FIFA Cracks Down: Red Cards for Mouth-Covering and Pitch Walkouts at 2026 World Cup
Football’s lawmakers have drawn a firm line in the sand ahead of this summer’s World Cup — and two of the sport’s most controversial behaviours are now firmly in the crosshairs.
The International Football Association Board unanimously approved a new rule that would penalise players with a red card if they cover their mouths when verbally confronting another player. The measure will be in place at this summer’s World Cup, starting June 11.
The catalyst for the rule is impossible to ignore. FIFA proposed the change after Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior accused Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni of making a racially charged insult while covering his mouth during a Champions League match in February. Prestianni was later banned for six matches by UEFA after admitting to using a homophobic slur. The incident laid bare a loophole that players had effectively been exploiting — covering their mouths to conceal abusive language from lip-readers, cameras, and officials alike. That loophole is now closed.
The second rule change is equally significant. Red cards will also be introduced for players leaving the field of play in protest at a referee’s decision, with the same sanction applying to any team official who incites players to abandon the pitch. A team that causes a match to be abandoned will, in principle, forfeit the match.
This rule was pushed by FIFA President Gianni Infantino following a chaotic Africa Cup of Nations final in January, when Senegal’s players walked off the pitch during stoppage time after Morocco were awarded a penalty with the score at 0-0. Play was delayed for nearly 15 minutes. Senegal eventually scored in extra time to claim the title but were later stripped of it by an appeals panel — with the case now heading to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.
IFAB confirmed the amendments will be communicated to all 48 teams competing across the United States, Canada, and Mexico, giving every nation fair warning of what will and will not be tolerated on the world’s biggest stage.
The message from football’s governing bodies is unambiguous: the 2026 World Cup will be played with zero tolerance for conduct that undermines the integrity of the game — whether that is concealed abuse or theatrical defiance of match officials.