Footballers who cover their mouths could be sent off following IFAB meeting

Zurich – Players who cover their mouths while confronting opponents could soon be shown a straight red card after football’s lawmakers agreed to fast-track a global directive in response to the alleged racist abuse aimed at Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr last month.

The measure, discussed at the International Football Association Board’s weekend summit in Wales, would instruct referees to presume that any player who hides his mouth during an altercation has “said something he shouldn’t have said”, FIFA president Gianni Infantino told Sky News.

The push for change stems from the Champions League play-off between Real Madrid and Benfica, when Vinicius claimed Benfica teenager Gianluca Prestianli racially insulted him while speaking behind his shirt. Prestianli denies the allegation and UEFA has imposed a provisional one-match ban while an investigation continues.

Speaking after the IFAB meeting, English FA chief executive and board member Mark Bullingham said the lawmakers now aim to have a new regulation in place before this summer’s World Cup, which kicks off in just over three months.

“We need to consult the game more broadly and work out where we would avoid any unforeseen circumstances,” Bullingham said. “You can see when a player is talking to an opponent, there are very few circumstances where they should need to cover their mouth.”

The precise sanction—yellow or red card—and the exact on-field scenarios that would trigger the punishment are expected to be finalised at the FIFA Congress in Vancouver on 30 April. Lawmakers must also decide how to differentiate between hostile confrontations and routine conversations with team-mates or coaches, who often cover their mouths for tactical reasons.

Infantino left little doubt about the intended severity of the offence. “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. “If you do not have something to hide, you don’t hide your mouth when you say something. That’s it, as simple as that.”

Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois endorsed the prospective ban, arguing it would remove ambiguity in disciplinary cases. “With Prestianli, it’s complicated because it will always be one person’s word against another’s,” Courtois said. “We are 100 per cent with Vinicius, who has suffered a lot from this, but with the mouth covered, you can never know absolutely.”

IFAB’s planned rule change would mark one of the most significant in-game measures introduced to combat discriminatory behaviour, shifting the burden of proof onto players who obscure their words during flash-points.