AR red card?

[Nevadaref]

What if that player in possession of the ball is punched from behind?

That question is intended to prove the point that the action must be a credible attempt to play the ball for SFP otherwise it qualifies as VC, even if the offended player has the ball at the time. The opponent cannot be allowed to get off with a lesser charge simply because of that.

I'm glad to see that we agree on the incident in the WC Final.