At a Special Meeting held in Vancouver, Canada, International Football Association Board unanimously approved two law amendments proposed by FIFA aimed at tackling discriminatory and inappropriate behaviour in football.
As agreed during The IFAB’s Annual General Meeting in February, the decisions followed an extensive consultation process led by FIFA, involving all key stakeholders.
What is this all about ?
Players covering their mouths in situations of confrontation with opponents.
At the discretion of the competition organiser, any player covering their mouth in a confrontational situation with an opponent may be sanctioned with a red card.
Players leaving the field of play in protest at a referee’s decision.
At the discretion of the competition organiser, the referee may sanction with a red card any player who leaves the field of play in protest at a referee’s decision. This new rule will also apply to any team official who incites players to leave the field of play.
A team that causes a match to be abandoned will, in principle, forfeit the match.
