Football's lawmakers have done something rare: acted quickly. IFAB unanimously approved the so-called 'Vinícius rule' at a special meeting in Vancouver, making it an offence — punishable by a red card — for any player to cover their mouth while addressing an opponent on the pitch.
The rule is a direct response to the Gianluca Prestianni case. The Argentine was handed a six-game ban for homophobic insults directed at Vinícius Júnior, but the racial abuse the Brazilian alleged could not be conclusively proven. Why? Because Prestianni had covered his mouth when he spoke, making lip-reading impossible and leaving cameras with nothing usable. That loophole is now closed — or at least, that's the intention.
Infantino's fingerprints are all over this
FIFA president Gianni Infantino pushed this through from the start, getting initial agreement at IFAB's General Assembly in Wales back in March. Tuesday's special meeting in Canada made it official. The rule is set to debut at the World Cup.
Not everyone is convinced it's the right fix. Critics — and there are legitimate ones — point out that players routinely cover their mouths to hide tactical instructions from opponents or to avoid being picked up by broadcast microphones when talking to teammates. Neither of those is abuse. The rule makes no distinction, which means referees will be asked to make judgment calls in the middle of matches with very little to go on.
That ambiguity matters. A red card issued incorrectly in a World Cup knockout game because a player shielded a formation discussion from the opposition bench would be a catastrophe. The intent behind the rule is right. The execution is where things get complicated.
Walk-offs and abandoned matches also tackled
The Vancouver meeting didn't stop at the Vinícius rule. IFAB also approved sanctions for players who leave the pitch in protest of a referee's decision — they can now be sent off. Coaching staff who encourage that walk-off face the same consequence.
There's also a pointed reference to the controversy from the Africa Cup of Nations Final between Senegal and Morocco: any team that causes a match to be abandoned will, in principle, forfeit the game. AFCON chaos, meet deterrent.
- Players covering their mouths while addressing opponents can be sent off
- Players leaving the pitch in protest of a referee's call risk a red card
- Coaches who encourage a walk-off face the same sanction
- Teams causing match abandonment will forfeit the result
Three significant rule changes, all passed in one sitting. The World Cup just got a more complicated rulebook — and referees a longer list of decisions they can get catastrophically wrong.
