UEFA abandons "hand-over-mouth" rule
In the Champions League and other competitions, covering the mouth when communicating with an opponent will not be punished with a red card.
UEFA will not adopt the rule introduced for the FIFA World Cup 2026, which states that covering the mouth when communicating with an opponent is punished with a red card. This was reported by the "New York Times".
According to the report, UEFA informed its members on Thursday that the said offense will not result in a dismissal in its competitions in the future, but only in a yellow card.
However, the possibility for VAR to overturn incorrectly decided corner kick decisions will indeed be included in the UEFA rulebook.
Two dismissals so far
During the current World Cup, two players, Piero Hincapie (Colombia) and Miguel Almiron (Paraguay), were sent off because they covered their mouths while talking to an opponent.
The controversial rule originated from an incident in the Champions League round of 16 match between Benfica Lisbon and Real Madrid.
Benfica player Gianluca Prestianni allegedly racially abused Real superstar Vinicius Junior while covering his mouth at the time. The Argentine was subsequently suspended for six matches, three of which were conditional.
