Leeds star Gabriel Gudmundsson seeks explanation as World Cup referee goes 'crazy'

Leeds United star Gabriel Gudmundsson has questioned a bizarre rule that he and his Sweden teammates were victims of at the World Cup.

Sweden took on Japan at the AT&T Stadium in Dallas in the early hours of Friday morning.

The Scandinavian nation earned a point through Anthony Elanga's stunning second-half strike, which cancelled out Daizen Maeda's opener.

Sweden will now advance to the last 32 as third-place finishers in Group F, meaning Gudmundsson's campaign is not over yet.

The contest was incredibly tight, with both sets of players giving everything on the field as Sweden knew a win would take them through in second.

But a bizarre moment saw referee Ivan Barton intervene to stop the Sweden players from taking on fluids.

Ivan Barton angers Sweden players with new rule for World Cup

A number of new rules were rolled out for the showpiece tournament in North America.

One of those, as has now become infamous, is the hydration break in each half.

This is intended to allow players to have a drink and rest up, even if temperatures are not particularly high.

The knock-on impact of that is players are no longer able to take on fluids outside of those breaks.

It is a way of preventing players going to the sidelines to speak to their manager if someone goes down without being injured.

That is something Gudmundsson and his colleagues learned the hard way as Barton warned them against having a drink multiple times.

As per Expressen, TV4 reporter Siavoush Fallahi said the referee "went crazy".

Asked about the incident after the game, Gudmundsson said: "I actually didn't understand anything.

"Our player is down and it's clear that you can go and fill up a little. I actually didn't understand what they were doing there."

Gudmundsson's performance came a day after he was linked with a surprise exit from Leeds.

Gudmundsson doing little to halt Chelsea speculation

Chelsea are said to hold an interest in Gudmundsson after his impressive maiden campaign at Elland Road

The full-back has also impressed for Sweden in their three group matches, despite being ill heading into the tournament.

Gudmundsson also missed games towards the end of Leeds' campaign through injury.

The fact he is performing so well on the biggest stage of them all will do little to stop talk of a move away from Leeds.

But with the 27-year-old under contract in West Yorkshire until the summer of 2029, Leeds can very much stand firm and reject any advances.