François Letexier enforces new one-minute rule on Moisés Caicedo and Joel Ordonez | OneFootball

François Letexier enforced a new World Cup rule during Côte d'Ivoire v Ecuador, obliging Moisés Caicedo, then Joel Ordonez, to spend one minute off the pitch after stoppages.

In the 20th minute of the 1-0 game on Sunday, Caicedo stayed down in his own area after a challenge with Wilfried Singo. L'Équipe reports that Letexier, refereeing his first World Cup match, stopped play and allowed Ecuador’s medics onto the field.

Caicedo quickly got to his feet, but the protocol requires any player who prompts a stoppage to leave for at least one minute, temporarily leaving his team a player short. The Chelsea midfielder showed his frustration with gestures towards the assistant before returning after a minute.

The temporary disadvantage had no consequence for Ecuador.

Letexier applied the same procedure to Joel Ordonez late on, in the 84th minute.

Source: L'Équipe