World Cup 2026: Why Jude Bellingham was not sent off for covering his mouth

In almost every match in this World Cup, you will see players talking to each other with their mouths covered. Even referees do this.

More importantly, there was no animosity between Bellingham and Ayew; Only two players were chatting.

How was Almiron’s red card different?

What happened in the match was important.

Paraguay’s Isidro Pitta was downed by a bad challenge from Türkiye’s Ismail Yüksek.

This led to a fight between the two groups of players. Recently, Almiron covered his mouth while talking to Mert Müldür from Türkiye.

Almiron and Muldur were not directly involved in the pushing and shoving, but the game was heated.

“Shutting the mouth is a very, very important rule for us,” Infantino told SNTV on Tuesday after Almiron’s dismissal.

“It’s about respect. It’s about the example we have to set.

“If you don’t have anything to hide, you don’t cover your mouth when you’re talking to someone.

“The rules were explained very clearly to everyone.”

However, there are questions about how reliable this change in law is. In such a situation, there is a possibility that a player can use this to get his opponent kicked out of the game.

For example, while Almiron did not appear to be acting aggressively, Muldur immediately turned and emphasized the situation to the assistant referee.

Almiron received a one-match ban and will miss Paraguay’s final group match against Australia. Both teams are likely to need a point to qualify for the last 32.

The ban could have lasted longer if there had been evidence of abusive language.

The new law is a choice in which the competition can choose whether to implement this law or not. So far it has only been used in the World Cup.

The difficulty of being consistent with the law and the potential for abuse means the law may not be adopted by local leagues.