2026 World Cup: Players set to be sent off for covering their mouths while confronting opponents

News

Martin Macdonald | Author

Players who cover their mouths while speaking to opponents during confrontations at the World Cup will be given a straight red card.

The new rule is expected to be announced by Gianni Infantino at the FIFA congress in Vancouver on Thursday and although it will be in place at the World Cup, there are no plans as of yet to introduce it in club football as it would first need to be rubber-stamped by the International Football Association Board.

In addition to a dismissal for covering one's mouth, players will also be given a red card if they protest a referee's decision by leaving the field of play.

There are concerns over the latter as players tend to leave the pitch during racism incidents.

The subject is in the news at the moment due to the investigation into Benfica forward Gianluca Prestianni, who was accused of racially abusing Vinicius Junior during a Champions League match between the Portuguese side and Real Madrid.

The Brazilian opened the scoring with a wonder goal and celebrated thereafter, with those celebrations apparently offending some of the Benfica players.

A melee ensued and Vinicius reported to the referee that he had been abused. The investigation into Prestianni was complicated by the fact that he covered his mouth while making the alleged comments.

In the end, the Argentine admitted to using homophobic language, but not racist. He was given a six-game ban, three of which as suspended for three years.

The decision to punish players for leaving the field of play also comes as a result of the chaotic Senegal versus Morocco Africa Cup of Nations final, which saw Senegalese players leave in protest at a penalty decision from the referee.

Infantino previously told Sky News of his plans to introduce the new rule to send players off for covering their mouths.

"If a player covers his mouth and says something, and this has a racist consequence, then he has to be sent off, obviously," he said.

"There must be a presumption that he has said something he shouldn't have said, otherwise he wouldn't have had to cover his mouth.

"There are situations which we did not foresee. Of course, when you deal with a disciplinary case, you have to analyse the situation, you have to have evidence, but we cannot just be satisfied with that going forward.

"I simply do not understand if you don't have something to hide, you don´t hide your mouth when you say something. That's it, as simple as that.

"And these are actions that we can take and we have to take in order to be serious about our fight against racism."

Also on the agenda at the conference in Vancouver will be introducing a new amnesty period for yellow cards at the World Cup.

Due to the increased size of the tournament, with 48 teams, there will now be a yellow card amnesty after the group stage as well as at the quarter-final stage.

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