No Racism: Explaining FIFA’s Cross-Arm Signal First Introduced by La Liga in Spain

Global football’s fight against racism has a new visual cue. Starting in the fall of 2024, players and referees can cross their arms at the wrists to form an X, instantly flagging that racist abuse is taking place on the pitch. Spain’s La Liga became the first domestic competition to adopt the gesture, and FIFA hopes the signal will soon be universal.

The mechanics are simple but loaded with meaning. A player who hears or sees abuse makes the crossed-wrist motion toward the referee, obliging the official to launch FIFA’s existing three-step protocol: pause the match, suspend it if the abuse continues, and ultimately abandon the game if necessary. Referees can also initiate the gesture themselves when they detect discriminatory behaviour, making the incident unmistakable to spectators and broadcast audiences.

Spanish authorities moved quickly. The Royal Spanish Football Federation and La Liga voted unanimously to weave the gesture into their Protocol for Action on Public Incidents, citing the country’s troubling record of high-profile cases. Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior—repeatedly targeted with monkey chants and online slurs—had argued that failure to curb racism should cost Spain its role as 2030 World Cup co-host. Three Valencia supporters were jailed in June 2024 for abusing Vinicius at Mestalla the previous May, a landmark conviction the Brazilian hailed as “for all Black people.”

Implementation followed a FIFA timeline already tested on the world stage. The crossed-arms signal debuted at the 2024 U-20 Women’s World Cup in Colombia, appeared again at the 2025 Club World Cup in the United States, and was on display when Antonio Rudiger told the referee he had been racially abused by a Pachuca opponent. The gesture’s most recent high-profile use came in February 2026, when French referee Francois Letexier stopped Real Madrid’s Champions League knockout tie at Benfica for nearly ten minutes after Vinicius reported a slur from Gianluca Prestianni.

Nothing else about the protocol changes; the innovation lies in transparency. By turning a private complaint into a public act, the crossed-arms signal pressures officials to act without hesitation and alerts millions of viewers why play has halted. If FIFA’s plan succeeds, the image of wrists crossed above the badge will become as powerful as the whistle itself in football’s ongoing battle against discrimination.