Dive, dive, dive! Benteke pokes fun at World Cup VAR

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Christian Benteke missed out on travelling to Russia with Belgium's World Cup squad but he still got involved in the debate over video refereeing at the tournament -- from his holiday swimming pool.

(Reuters)

"Do we need VAR to check if this is a dive or not? #WorldCup," the Crystal Palace striker asked on Twitter along with a video of him plunging into the water.

Then he posted: "VAR say it was a dive!" over a doctored photograph showing a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) room at the World Cup reviewing screenshots of the Belgian's acrobatics.

It has been a painful subject for Benteke, who narrowly failed to make his country's squad for Russia.

He was notably accused by his current club of diving to secure a stoppage-time penalty that handed Liverpool a Premier League win in March, 2016 and left Palace dangerously close to relegation.

(Reporting by Alastair Macdonald; Editing by Ed Osmond)