04/29/26 01:49:00
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04/29 01:45 CDT FIFA push for new red-card rules at World Cup approved after
Champions League and AFCON incidents
FIFA push for new red-card rules at World Cup approved after Champions League
and AFCON incidents
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) --- Rules for showing red cards to players at
the World Cup were updated Tuesday because of two controversies in
international soccer this year.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino pushed for changes after Benfica's Gianluca
Prestianni tried to hide verbal insults toward Vincius Jnior in a Champions
League game and Senegal's team walked off the field to protest a referee's
decision in a heated and chaotic Africa Cup of Nations final.
Soccer's rulemaking panel, the International Football Association Board, agreed
that players can be penalized with a red card if they cover their mouths when
verbally confronting another player.
The rule is not mandatory within The Laws of the Game but gives competition
organizers like FIFA the option to use it.
It was unanimously approved by IFAB officials from FIFA and the four British
soccer federations at a special meeting Tuesday in Vancouver, British Columbia,
ahead of the FIFA Congress on Thursday.
FIFA's proposal followed Vincius, backed by Real Madrid teammate Kylian
Mbapp, accusing Prestianni of making a racially charged insult while raising
his jersey to cover his mouth during the game in February.
Last week, UEFA handed Prestianni a six-game ban --- three of the games
deferred for a probationary period --- for the verbal abuse, which it said was
homophobic. UEFA could not prove the racial insult which Prestianni denied,
though he admitted using a homophobic slur.
If Prestianni is selected for Argentina's World Cup squad, he must sit out the
defending champion's first two matches in June, although the ban can be
appealed.
"At the discretion of the competition organizer, any player covering their
mouth in a confrontational situation with an opponent may be sanctioned with a
red card," IFAB said.
IFAB also agreed any player who leaves the field in protest of a referee's
decision can be sanctioned with a red card. The rule also applies to team
officials who urge players to leave the field.
Senegal players left the field during stoppage time of the AFCON final in
January to protest host nation Morocco being awarded a penalty when the score
was 0-0. Play was delayed for nearly 15 minutes before Morocco's spot-kick was
saved. Senegal scored in extra time to win the title.
Senegal was later stripped of the title by an appeals panel of African soccer's
governing body, and the case will now be judged at the Court of Arbitration for
Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.
IFAB said the amendments will be communicated to all 48 teams playing in the
World Cup starting June 11, hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.
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