US EditionFIFA Push for New Red-Card Rules at World Cup Approved After Champions League and AFCON Incidents
The new laws target confrontation delays and protest walkouts after incidents involving Benfica, Real Madrid and Senegal prompted review.
- On Tuesday, April 28, 2026, The International Football Association Board approved new red card sanctions for players covering their mouths during confrontations or leaving the field in protest at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
- High-Profile incidents involving Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni and Senegal prompted the rule updates. Prestianni covered his mouth during a February Champions League confrontation with Real Madrid's Vinicius Junior; Senegal players walked off during the African Cup final in January.
- Referees may now issue red cards to players leaving the field in protest; team officials inciting departures also face expulsion, and teams causing match abandonment will forfeit the game per IFAB regulations.
- Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee, said the changes aim to "protect the image of the game," particularly for the World Cup, the most-viewed competition in sport globally.
- FIFA will communicate the amendments to all 48 teams in the coming weeks, with mandatory implementation at the 2026 FIFA World Cup and optional adoption by other organizers starting July 1, 2026.
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FIFA announced on Tuesday the introduction of new sanctions for the 2026 World Cup. A player who hides his mouth to speak or another who leaves the field to contest an arbitral award may be excluded.
castanet.net
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 Vinícius Júnior 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 …
Starting with the 2026 World Cup, players who cover their mouths to hide discriminatory insults in situations of confrontation with another footballer will receive a red card.The International Football Association Board (IFAB) approved the measure that will be applied in the 2026 World Cup.Why was the measure approved against players who cover their mouths to insult?In the 2026 World Cup any player who covers his mouth in a confrontation situati…
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