A photo of England midfielder Jude Bellingham covering his mouth while talking to Ghanaian Jordan Ayew has sparked controversy. For the 2026 World Cup, a rule was introduced according to which a player can be sent off the pitch if he covers his mouth while talking to an opponent. FIFA president Gianni Infantino demanded its introduction after Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni was handed a six-match ban by UEFA for homophobic behavior towards Real Madrid's Vinícius Jr during a Champions League match in February. After Paraguayan Miguel Almiron, who was shown a red card last weekend for this offense in a match against Turkey, he is the second player at the World Cup to be punished in this way. So why wasn't Bellingham given a red card in the England v Ghana match on Tuesday? Context is key. Covering the mouth has not been banned. It has been banned in confrontational situations with another player. Pierluigi Collina, FIFA's chairman of referees, was very clear on this issue ahead of the tournament. "Players can still cover their mouth with their arm or shirt because they may be talking to friends," Collina said. "The norm is to talk before, during or after the match. However, if the conversation is confrontational, covering your mouth means you are doing something very wrong, potentially, and then the penalty is a red card." At almost every match of this World Cup, you can see players talking to each other while covering their mouths. Importantly, there was no animosity between Bellingham and Ayew - it was just a conversation between two players. How was Almiron's situation different? What was important was what happened on the pitch. Isidro Pitta from Paraguay fell to the pitch, claiming he was fouled by Ismail Yuksek from Turkey. This led to confusion between the players of both teams. Nearby, he covered his mouth as he spoke to Turkey's Mert Muldur, who was not directly involved in the altercation, but the situation on the pitch was tense. “This mouth covering rule is very, very important to us,” Infantino told SNTV on Tuesday after Almiron was shown the red card. "It's a matter of respect. It's an example we should set. If you have nothing to hide, don't cover your mouth when talking to someone. The rules have been made clear to everyone." However, there are questions about the fairness of this regulatory change. It is possible that a player could use this rule to penalize an opponent in a situation similar to Almiron's. The latter, for example, did not appear to be behaving aggressively, while Muldur immediately turned around to bring it to the assistant referee's attention. Almiron received a one-match ban and will miss Paraguay's final group match against Australia. Both teams will likely need at least one point to advance to the round of 16. The ban could be longer if there was evidence of offensive language. The new rule is voluntary, which means that competitions can decide whether to implement it or not. So far, it is only used at the World Championships. The difficulty of applying it consistently and the potential for abuse make it unlikely to be adopted in domestic leagues.
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