FIFA is done playing nice.
Players who cover their mouths while confronting opponents will be sent off at the 2026 World Cup under sweeping new anti-racism rules announced Tuesday.
The world governing body confirmed the change after an International Football Association Board meeting in Vancouver. “At the discretion of the competition organiser, any player covering their mouth in a confrontational situation with an opponent may be sanctioned with a red card,” FIFA said.
The rule follows a flashpoint in February’s Champions League clash between Benfica and Real Madrid. Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni was accused of repeatedly calling Vinicius Junior a “monkey” while hiding his mouth. Prestianni denied racial abuse but was later hit with a six-match ban — three suspended — for “homophobic conduct.”
FIFA President Gianni Infantino backed the crackdown last month. “If a player covers his mouth and says something, and this has a racist consequence, then he has to be sent off, obviously,” he told Sky News.
“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. 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.”
A second rule change targets walk-offs. Referees can now issue straight red cards to any player who leaves the pitch in protest at a decision. Team officials who incite players to walk off face the same punishment. If a team causes a game to be abandoned, it forfeits the match.
The move comes after chaos at this year’s Africa Cup of Nations final. Senegal’s players, head coach Pape Thiaw, and staff walked off in Rabat when Morocco won a stoppage-time penalty. Brahim Diaz missed it. Senegal went on to win 1-0 in extra time, only for CAF to strip them of the title in March in a stunning reversal.
The law changes land days before FIFA’s Congress in Vancouver — the final gathering before the World Cup kicks off across Canada, Mexico, and the United States in June.
FIFA’s message is blunt: hide your words, hide your insults — and you’ll be watching from the tunnel.
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