By Pascal Ibe
Claim
The former aide to ex-President Muhammadu Buhari, Bashir Ahmed, claimed that the Real Madrid forward, Jude Bellingham, is the first player in history to be shown a red card for arguing with the referee.
Verdict
This claim is FALSE. Simple findings showed that David Wagstaff of Blackburn Rovers was the first player to receive a card for exchanging words with the referee in 1976.
Full Text
Displeased with the 1-1 draw Real Madrid played out with Osasuna on Saturday night, Bashir Ahmed, a former aide to the ex-Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, has claimed that the Real Madrid forward, Jude Bellingham, is the first player in history to be shown a red card for arguing with the referee.
In a post on the X platform, Bashir Ahmed wrote, “Bellingham is the first player in history to receive a red card for arguing with the referee. It is Real Madrid against the establishment.
The post garnered over 31.5k views and more than 759 likes as of Sunday morning.
Jude Bellingham was shown a straight red card for arguing with the referee in what he described as ‘a misunderstanding’.
The England superstar was seen mouthing words at the official in a heated conversation during Real Madrid’s 1-1 draw with Osasuna.
Pushing things too far, the referee chose to hand Bellingham a straight red and give him his marching orders.
It left him and his Madrid teammates in complete disbelief – given dissent is usually considered a yellow card offense.
Verification
Setting eyes on the records and history, FACTWATCH Nigeria‘s simple findings, according to Football Stadiums UK, indicated that Blackburn Rovers’s David Wagstaffe became the first player to be shown a red card when he argued with the referee after thirty-six minutes of the match. Sixty-seven minutes into his match for Manchester United that same afternoon, George Best was shown a red card for swearing.
At the club level, the first red card was awarded in the English Football League on the 2nd of October 1976. The first red-carded player was David Wagstaff of Blackburn Rovers in their Second Division match at Leyton Orient after arguing with the referee.
The first player who was sent off in a football match was Placido Galindo playing for Peru against Romania in the 1930 World Cup. However, this happened without the use of a red card. Physical red cards were introduced in 1970, but they were not put into practice until the 1974 World Cup when referee Dogan Babacan sent off Chile’s Carlos Caszely during a match against West Germany.
Conclusion
The claim that Jude Bellingham was the first player in history to be shown a red card for arguing with a referee is FALSE after checks
