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Footballers covering their mouths should be sent off – Gianni Infantino

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Players who cover their mouths when speaking to opponents during confrontations should be sent off, says Gianni Infantino, the president of football’s world governing body.

Infantino told Sky News, external he thought referees should work from a presumption that players have said “something they shouldn’t have”.

He was speaking less than two weeks after Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni raised his shirt over his mouth while speaking to Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr during a Champions League game.

The Argentina international has been given a provisional one-match ban by Uefa for alleged use of racist language, which he denies.

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The ban was imposed pending the result of a full investigation by an ethics and disciplinary inspector, and Prestianni could be punished further once the investigation is complete.

Infantino said individual cases should be dealt with by the relevant bodies, but football more broadly must “act and be decisive” to bring in something which has “a deterrent effect”.

The issue was discussed at the International Football Association Board (Ifab) annual general meeting in Wales this weekend.

It was agreed there would be consultation to develop measures to stop players hiding what they might be saying to an opponent.

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Infantino said: “If a player covers his mouth and says something, and this has a racist consequence, then he has to be sent off, obviously.

“There must be a presumption that he has said something he shouldn’t have said, otherwise he wouldn’t have had to cover his mouth.

“If you do not have something to hide, you don’t hide your mouth when you say something. That’s it, as simple as that.”

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Scorecard, player of the match & records

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India have officially qualified for the T20 World Cup 2026 semifinals after a fantastic win against West Indies in Kolkata. The Men in Blue beat the two-time world champions by five wickets to book their place in the next round of the mega event.

Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and chose to field first in the high-pressure contest against West Indies at the Eden Gardens. The Indian bowlers did a decent job as West Indies set a 196-run target for the home side.

In response, Sanju Samson‘s epic 97-run knock inspired the Men in Blue to a five-wicket victory. Tilak Varma and Shivam Dube supported Samson well as India sealed their place in the semifinals. On that note, here’s a look at the scorecard, Player of the Match winner and top stats from this game.


India vs West Indies T20 World Cup 2026 scorecard

None of the West Indies batters managed to convert their starts into big scores. Roston Chase emerged as the top-scorer with a 40-run knock at the top of the order. Thirties from Rovman Powell, Jason Holder and Shai Hope guided the Men in Maroon to 195/4 in 20 overs.

Fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah emerged as the pick of the bowlers for India with figures of 2/36 in four overs. Hardik Pandya and Varun Chakravarthy chipped in with a wicket each.

Sanju Samson stole the show with an incredible 50-ball 97* at the Eden Gardens. Samson notched up his maiden T20 World Cup half-ton to knock the West Indies team out of the tournament.

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Tilak Varma scored a quickfire 15-ball 27, and Shivam Dube’s two fours in the final moments eased the pressure for the Indian team. Shamar Joseph and Jason Holder took two wickets each, but their efforts ended in a losing cause.


India vs West Indies T20 World Cup 2026 Player of the Match

Sanju Samson won the Man of the Match award for his unbeaten 97-run knock against West Indies. The Indian opener whacked 12 fours and four sixes and maintained a strike rate of 194 to help India win the match.

Samson did not feature in India’s playing XI when they played against South Africa last week, but the team recalled him after the top order’s failure and he justified the team management’s decision with an epic knock in the middle.


India vs West Indies T20 World Cup 2026 stats and records

India avenged their 2016 T20 World Cup semifinal defeat against the West Indies by knocking them out of the ongoing mega event. Here are some of the top stats emerging from this entertaining T20 World Cup 2026 contest:

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  1. India became the first team to qualify for the semifinals of ICC events for 20 times.
  2. Sanju Samson broke Virat Kohli’s record for the highest individual score (82) by an Indian while chasing in a T20 World Cup match.
  3. Samson also broke Tim Seifert’s record for the highest individual score (89*) by a wicketkeeper batter in a T20 World Cup run-chase.
  4. India pulled off their highest successful run-chase in T20 World Cup history.