{"id":202403,"date":"2026-06-24T10:23:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T10:23:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/24\/why-bellingham-was-not-sent-off-for-covering-his-mouth\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T10:23:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T10:23:18","slug":"why-bellingham-was-not-sent-off-for-covering-his-mouth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/24\/why-bellingham-was-not-sent-off-for-covering-his-mouth\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Bellingham was not sent off for covering his mouth"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

A picture of England midfielder Jude Bellingham covering his mouth while talking to Ghana’s Jordan Ayew has caused controversy.<\/b><\/p>\n

A law was brought in for the 2026 World Cup which says a player can be sent off if they hide their mouth when speaking to an opponent.<\/p>\n

Fifa president Gianni Infantino requested it was introduced after Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni was given a six-match ban by Uefa for homophobic conduct towards Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr during a Champions League game in February.<\/p>\n

Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron became the first player to be sent off for the offence against Turkey at the weekend when the video assistant referee (VAR) stepped in to advise a red card.<\/p>\n

So why was Bellingham not shown a red card on a VAR review in Tuesday’s 0-0 draw in Boston?<\/p>\n

The context is key. Covering the mouth has not been banned. Doing so in a confrontation with another player has.<\/p>\n

Before the tournament Pierluigi Collina, Fifa’s head of referees, was quite clear.<\/p>\n

“Players can continue to cover their mouth with an arm and the shirt because they may chat with friends,” Collina said.<\/p>\n

“It’s normal to a chat before, during or after the match.<\/p>\n

“So if the conversation is a friendly conversation, they can continue to do it without any problem.<\/p>\n

“When the conversation is confrontational, covering the mouth means that you are doing something very wrong, potentially, and the sanction is the red card.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

Throughout almost every game at this World Cup you will find examples of players talking to each other while covering their mouth. Even referees have been doing it. <\/p>\n

Importantly, there was no animosity between Bellingham and Ayew – it was merely two players chatting.<\/p>\n

How did the Almiron red card differ?<\/p>\n

What was happening in the match was important.<\/p>\n

Paraguay’s Isidro Pitta had gone to ground claiming a bad challenge by Turkey’s Ismail Yuksek.<\/p>\n

This led to a melee between the two sets of players. Close by, Almiron covered his mouth when talking to Turkey’s Mert Muldur.<\/p>\n

Almiron and Muldur were not directly involved in the pushing and shoving, but the game was in a heated situation.<\/p>\n

“This thing about covering the mouth is for us a very, very important rule,” Infantino told SNTV on Tuesday following Almiron’s dismissal. <\/p>\n

“It’s about respect. It’s about the example that we should give.<\/p>\n

“If you have nothing to hide, you don’t cover your mouth when you speak to somebody.<\/p>\n

“The rules have been made very clear to everyone.”<\/p>\n

There are questions about how reliable this law change is, however. There is the possibility that a player could use it to get an opponent sent off in a situation like this.<\/p>\n

Almiron, for instance, did not appear to be acting aggressively, while Muldur immediately turned around to highlight it to an assistant referee.<\/p>\n

Almiron has received a one-game ban and will miss Paraguay’s final group game against Australia, with both teams likely requiring a point to reach the last 32.<\/p>\n

The ban could have been longer if there was evidence of abusive language.<\/p>\n

The new law is an opt-in, whereby a competition can choose whether to implement it. So far, it is only being used at the World Cup.<\/p>\n

The difficulty in being consistent with the law, and the potential for it to be abused, means it might not be adopted by the domestic leagues. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A picture of England midfielder Jude Bellingham covering his mouth while talking to Ghana’s Jordan Ayew has caused controversy. A law was brought in for the 2026 World Cup which says a player can be sent off if they hide their mouth when speaking to an opponent. Fifa president Gianni Infantino requested it was introduced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[49],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-202403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy Bellingham was not sent off for covering his mouth - Tahrir News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tahrir2day.com\/news\/2026\/06\/24\/why-bellingham-was-not-sent-off-for-covering-his-mouth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why Bellingham was not sent off for covering his mouth\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A picture of England midfielder Jude Bellingham covering his mouth while talking to Ghana’s Jordan Ayew has caused controversy. 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