Revolution in FIFA Rules: Red Card for Covering Mouth with Hand?

World football faces one of the most controversial rule changes in decades. Gianni Infantino, at the helm of FIFA, has officially announced a fight against so-called "secret communication" on the pitch. The proposal to introduce a red card penalty for covering the mouth with hands aims to facilitate the work of systems analyzing lip movements in cases of suspected ethnic abuse of players. Currently, a lack of hard visual evidence often prevents punishing players, even if accusations of racism seem credible. This initiative gained momentum after a high-profile incident in the Champions League between Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni and Real Madrid's Vinícius Júnior. Jose Mourinho also became involved in the matter, stating that if Prestianni's guilt is proven, his club career will be over. Further tensions arose last weekend in Spain during the Elche vs. Espanyol match. The referee activated a special anti-racism protocol after Omar El Hilali accused Rafa Mir of directing the words "you came here on a raft" at him. Although El Hilali was born in Spain's L'Hospitalet, Mir allegedly attacked him with a reference to illegal migration. The match was temporarily halted, a rare case of such a decisive refereeing reaction on Spanish pitches. Since 1886, changes to football rules have been overseen solely by IFAB, a body where FIFA holds half the votes, and the other half is shared between the federations of England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. „When we see players covering their mouths when they say something to an opponent or the referee because they don't want it to be seen: then it has to be a red card.” — FIFA President pushing for rule change on covering mouths. Critics of the proposal point to practical difficulties in enforcing the new law. Players routinely cover their mouths to hide tactical instructions from cameras and opponents. Meanwhile, in Germany, the DFB is investigating another case of on-pitch aggression – the vulgar outburst of Bayer Leverkusen's Fernando Carro, who called another club's official a "fool." All these events build pressure on the IFAB to address the issue of verbal attacks during its upcoming legislative meetings. The new restrictions could not only change the way players communicate but become a powerful tool in the fight against discrimination, provided clear criteria for differentiating between tactics and insults can be established. „If Prestianni is proven to have used racist abuse against Vinicius, his Benfica career is over. There is no place for people like that in my team.” — Benfica coach who reacted strongly to accusations against his player. Both experts and fans are divided. Some see Infantino's proposal as the only chance to effectively prosecute racism, while others fear football will lose its emotional character and referees will gain too much power in interpreting players' gestures.