2026 World Cup: Why Jude Bellingham wasn’t sent off for covering his mouth

In almost every game of this World Cup, you will find examples of players talking with their mouths covered. Even judges have been doing it.

There was no animosity between Bellingham and Ayu – just two players talking.

How was Almiron’s red card different?

What was happening in the game was important.

Paraguay’s Isidro Pita faces a bad challenge from Turkey’s Ismail Yucsek.

This created a gap between the two sets of players. Up close, Almiron covers his mouth as he talks to the Turk Mert Muldur.

Although Almiron and Muldur weren’t directly involved in the pushing and shoving, the game was heated.

“This is a very, very important rule for us to cover the mouth,” Infantino told SNTV on Tuesday after Almiron was fired.

“It’s about respect, it’s an example that we should give.

“If you have nothing to hide, you don’t cover your mouth when you tell someone.

“The rules are made very clear to everyone.”

However, there are questions about how reliable this change in law is. In this type of situation, there is a chance that a player can use it to red card the opponent.

Almiron, for example, didn’t look very strong, but Muldur immediately turned around and highlighted the match with the assistant referee.

Almiron was handed a one-match ban and will miss Paraguay’s final group game against Australia, with both teams likely to need points to reach the last 32.

If there is evidence of profanity, the ban may be longer.

The new rule is opt-in, so a competition can choose whether to implement it. So far, it is only used in the World Cup.

The difficulty of being compliant with the law and the possibility of abuse means it may not be accepted by local leagues.