Prateek Tanmay
3 min readUpdated: Jun 20, 2026 11:07 AM IST
Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron became the first casualty of FIFA’s new rule when he was sent off by the referee during the Turkey vs Paraguay match for covering his mouth during a verbal exchange with a Turkish player. Before Almiron’s red at the fag end of the first half, Paraguay were leading Turkey 1-0 after a Matias Galarza strike in just the 65th second of the match. Paraguay would hold onto the slender lead, eventually winning the match 1-0 and eliminated Turkey from the World Cup.
The new rule empowers referees to eject players who hide their mouths during run-ins with opponents. The International Football Association Board’s (IFAB) Law 12 stipulates a straight red card for players “using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or action(s)”. Referees rely on what they hear, their assistants and the video assistant referee’s (VAR) inputs, as well as players’ reactions and the context of the incident.
With the new rule, the referee will have more discretion in trying to ascertain the nature of conversation between opposing players. Banter is not a problem, but if the official sees a player covering their mouth with a hand, arm or shirt in a confrontation, a send-off is prescribed.
✅ BIEN EXPULSADO 🇵🇾 EN EL MUNDIAL 2026 🚨
Almirón 🇵🇾 se convirtió en uno de los primeros futbolistas sancionados bajo la nueva normativa que castiga el hecho de taparse la boca durante una confrontación o intercambio con un rival.
El VAR llamó al profe Iván Barton 🇸🇻 para… pic.twitter.com/VlfeYwIzfS
— Rodrigo Velis (@Rodri_velis) June 20, 2026
It was a direct consequence of Gianluca Prestianni’s dubious conduct towards Vinicius Junior in their February UEFA Champions League face-off.
Moments after netting a stunner, Vinicius alleged racial abuse and was vehemently backed by Real Madrid teammate Kylian Mbappe, who said Prestianni “doesn’t deserve to play this competition”.
The 20-year-old Benfica forward retorted by claiming the Brazilian “misinterpreted what he thinks he heard”, and was eventually handed a six-match ban for homophobic remarks instead.
FIFA later extended the ban globally, which meant Prestianni would have missed Argentina’s first two World Cup games had he been picked in the squad. Racism and homophobia lie in the same offence category under Article 14 of UEFA’s disciplinary regulations, and the striker’s mouth-shielding with his jersey would certainly not have aided the ethics and disciplinary investigator appointed to probe the incident.
This was not the first time something of the sort had transpired. In March 2021, Slavia Prague defender Ondrej Kudela hid his mouth while racially abusing Rangers’ Glen Kamara in a Europa League clash, and eventually served a 10-match ban.
