New red card rule enforced for first time at World Cup

The ‘Prestianni Rule’ was executed for the first time in Friday’s match between Paraguay and Turkiye.

Paraguay’s Miguel Almirón was given a straight red card in the first half for covering his mouth during a confrontation, becoming the first player to ever be sent off for doing so.

The infraction came during first-half stoppage time in the Group D match when Almiron and Mert Mulder exchanged words following a foul near midfield. Almiron covered his mouth while saying something to Mulder, who immediately appealed to referee Ivan Barton for punishment.

Barton went to video review and quickly ruled that Almiron would be given a red card and ejected.

This is a new rule added by FIFA ahead of the World Cup to avoid any discriminatory statements being made by players.

It was created after Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni covered his face with his jersey to reportedly make a racist remark to Real Madrid’s Brazilian star Vinícius Júnior in a Champions League game in February.

“If you have nothing to hide, you don’t cover your mouth when you say something. It’s as simple as that,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said of the new rule, per Yahoo! Sports. “If a player covers his mouth and says something that has a racist consequence, he obviously needs to be sent off. There must be a presumption that he said something he shouldn’t have.”

-With files from The Associated Press