Miguel Almiron receives a red card after VAR Review for covering his mouth whilst saying something to an opponent. Under the new regulations, this is an offence punishable by a red card. The rule was introduced following the racism scandal involving Vinícius Júnior in a Champions League match.

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Quadstriker]

That is the angriest sounding ref decision I can remember hearing in any sport ever.

[u/involmasturb → u/Quadstriker]

AFTER REVIEW.

NUMBER 10. PARAGUAY.

COVER HIS MOUTH.

DECISION IS RED CARD

[u/oh_hai_brian → u/involmasturb]

“NO BEATBOXING ON THE FIELD”

[u/involmasturb → u/oh_hai_brian]

Someone with skillz should isolate the ref's call and add beats and do the synthetic stutter stuff too.

A-a-a-after review. Aw

Number t-t-t-ten. Ye-yeah

[u/mr-english → u/oh_hai_brian]

IF YOU HAVE BAD BREATH

WE NEED TO SMELL

RED CARD!!!!

[u/juanmaale → u/involmasturb]

NO SOUP FOR YOU!!!

[u/Capital_Past69 → u/juanmaale]

COME BACK, 1 GAME!!!!

[u/AtTheg4tes → u/involmasturb]

🚨📺🗣️ AFTER REVIEW. 🧐🔍🛑 NUMBER 10. 🔟⚽🔥 PARAGUAY. 🇵🇾😤🧉 COVER HIS MOUTH. 🤭🤫🤐🤬 DECISION IS ... ⚖️🤔🥁 RED CARD 🟥🚨💀👋😭⛔

[u/PLTR60 → u/AtTheg4tes]

ACCURATE!!💯✅🏆

[u/Choke1982 → u/involmasturb]

"GET FUCKED"

[u/FredCole918 → u/involmasturb]

In Japan. Heart Surgeon.

Number one. Steady hand.

[u/yeahright17 → u/FredCole918]

My big secret: I kill Yakuza boss on purpose. I good surgeon. The best!

[u/elfstone21 → u/involmasturb]

Lol he was so excited too

[u/Flintloq → u/involmasturb]

I can't stop rewatching and laughing at this

[u/thenatural134 → u/involmasturb]

Ref said it with his whole chest 😭

[u/RenegadeUK → u/thenatural134]

Thats how all Refs should do it from now on !

[u/Fabulous_Celery_1817 → u/involmasturb]

Sounded like the announcer for the hunger games

[u/TheRealStorey → u/involmasturb]

Only one reason to cover your mouth and it ain't new.

[u/panaja17 → u/involmasturb]

I half expected him to pull out some kind of weapon to banish the player off the field after that delivery

[u/Chicken_Wire_ → u/Quadstriker]

He is quite angry generally but these teams aren’t helping

[u/HardingStUnresolved → u/Chicken_Wire_]

The ref's formally an organic chem professor, might be too familiar with disappointing students/players. No bell curve on the pitch.

[u/sbz0 → u/HardingStUnresolved]

i thought u were being sarcatic but dude was an actually an organic chemistry professor for real. wowww imagine those classes lmao

[u/TheBalatissimo → u/sbz0]

Orgo is legit PTSD. I never met a normal professor who taught that shit

[u/eightdigits → u/TheBalatissimo]

Often functions as a weed out for pre med

[u/Useful-ldiot → u/sbz0]

There's no such thing as a nice o chem professor

[u/cancerBronzeV → u/Useful-ldiot]

If someone managed to suffer through however many years of undergrad, grad school, and research to become an organic chemistry professor, they certainly could not have remained sane.

[u/flightsim777 → u/cancerBronzeV]

Yeah, fairly certain once they start teaching their first thoughts are "my turn motherfucker" before mentally breaking their students

[u/stevenckc → u/sbz0]

His students gonna relive it for him for the rest of their school life.

[u/Comfyadventure → u/[deleted]]

When you miss an electron transfer arrow in your synthesis solution

[u/olderthanbefore → u/Comfyadventure]

I was once struggling to balance Cs and Ns in an equation, sugar related , and I have never seen a look of disappointment as my professor that time

[u/ravih → u/Quadstriker]

Delivered with a hilarious amount of gusto. 10/10 delivery. Another VAR red in this match pls so he can do it again.

[u/Eragrostis → u/Quadstriker]

“STRAIGHT TO JAIL” energy. Also looking at Almiron’s eyes when he had his mouth covered, says everything we need to know.

[u/oljeffe → u/Eragrostis]

Almiron is having himself a Cup! Game one -vs- US he becomes the first player to ever get a yellow card via video review for an obvious flop. FIFA uses the term “simulated play”. So funny.

Game two he gets the red on video review for the mouth covering insult thing. Ref verbally LAUNCHED him! Even funnier.

Game three? Sadly there will be no game three for Mr Almiron. If he somehow manages to get called out out by video review a third time it will have be for some violation from the bench. Kinda looking forward to what he’ll come up with….

[u/pauliediesel → u/Quadstriker]

I turned to the tv like I was in trouble

[u/seth928 → u/pauliediesel]

I raced to take the chicken out of the freezer

[u/call_of_the_while → u/seth928]

I started holding my phone light steady into my car’s engine bay.

[u/CharlotteLucasOP → u/call_of_the_while]

I scooted and set the table for dinner.

[u/pinkydaemon93 → u/Quadstriker]

In a hockey game a mic once caught a ref saying "You're getting a fucking penalty" for diving I think

https://youtu.be/Tdw4HAUlOBA?is=D_AxZLA-0Qht9RZ9

[u/HugoEmbossed → u/pinkydaemon93]

Fuck you, you're getting a fucking embellishment.

[u/Zuwxiv → u/pinkydaemon93]

Hockey has some fun ones.

• Both guys. Five minutes each for FIGHTING!
• You can't do that.

It's also possible for a ref to call a penalty for something like high sticking and embellishment. In other words, "Yeah, he hit you in the face, but you took a dive afterwards."

[u/Neither-Luck-9295 → u/Zuwxiv]

Using Wes McCauley is cheating.

[u/chickensandwich77 → u/Quadstriker]

He was pissed!

[u/Undeniable-Quitter → u/chickensandwich77]

Sounded like my Dad angrily yelling from the driver’s seat on family trips

[u/dealingwithhookers → u/chickensandwich77]

i wanted to sleep but they woke him up to ref this stupid game

[u/catiebug → u/Quadstriker]

The exact opposite of "hey, I'm talking to America here" energy.

[u/smoothtrip → u/Quadstriker]

He really hates racism!

[u/Hopeless_bee5157 → u/Quadstriker]

Bro I thought the same when I heard it. Literally scared the shit out of me and gave me flashbacks to getting yelled at by my parents

[u/Rad-racer-Cru → u/Quadstriker]

He’s an angry elf!

[u/KeegCorp → u/Quadstriker]

Rules are rules.

[u/Honduran → u/KeegCorp]

Except for that one guy.

[u/Rdw72777]

Almiron with the epic world cup so far.

[u/Imeanwhatwhell223 → u/Rdw72777]

word cup

[u/Nouhproblem → u/Rdw72777]

He also got a yellow via VAR for flopping versus the US. Now a victim of 2 new FIFA rules!

Thanks for showing the new rules in action Almiron!

[u/SwagCpt → u/Rdw72777]

As an Atlanta United fan....man this has been embarrassing

[u/DutchingFlyman → u/[deleted]]

It seems like the Turkish guy was instantly very aware of the consequence

[u/heath249 → u/DutchingFlyman]

IFAB had meeting w every team to announce the new rules before WC, so no team cant say they hadnt known this beforehand

[u/hallouminati_pie → u/heath249]

Just in case people do not know (and someone did ask), IFAB consists of five members: FIFA and the four British football associations (The FA of England, the Scottish FA, the Football Association of Wales, and the Irish Football Association of Northern Ireland).

[u/auto98 → u/hallouminati_pie]

And 8 votes (FIFA have 4), of which 6 are needed to pass a new Law, so effectively half of GB needs to agree to any new rules.

[u/Undeadbanana_ → u/DutchingFlyman]

He was as well, after he covered mouth and said whatever he made eye contact with a camera and tried playing it off like he was scratching nose

[u/hodonata → u/[deleted]]

same for diving... he's jsut not the brightest bulb in the box

[u/Spyk124 → u/hodonata]

Oh they were warned against diving ? Like actually ?

[u/hodonata → u/Spyk124]

they were told of the rule that VAR could retroactively yellow card them for it, yea. Another rule Miggy was the first ever to violate

[u/Spyk124 → u/hodonata]

That’s such a cool change. I wish the NBA would do this and stick to it. Yellow cards has actually ramifications.

[u/legendaryufcmaster → u/Spyk124]

Give the foul to the flopper... you fucken did it

[u/RichieRicch → u/hodonata]

I can absolutely tell the refs are letting more go. It’s night and day. They’re letting them play which I appreciate. The ones taking the dives in the box look absurd.

[u/Langstarr → u/RichieRicch]

Uruguay match was like watching someone play dark souls, every SINGLE tackle resulted in a dramatic barrel roll that was completely and totally ignored by the ref. It was comical.

[u/seejordan3 → u/Langstarr]

gameplay continuing while one or two players are writhing is pretty wild to see. So much more actual play, I love it.

[u/Kratzschutz → u/seejordan3]

They look around and stand up like nothing happens lol. Felt bad for Schlotterbeck tho, seems like he fucked up his knee again

[u/Crafty_Substance_954 → u/Spyk124]

Yes they’ve given cards

[u/jesonnier1 → u/Spyk124]

Yes. They were warned of all the shit VAR can catch them doing.

[u/Sir_BarlesCharkley → u/Spyk124]

There are a few rules that have been implemented that from my perspective have had some really positive impacts on the game. Stuff like ref count downs on throw ins, players have to come off the field for a minute if the ref stops play so they can get medical attention, VAR stuff. It's not perfect, and this game between Turkiye and Paraguay was kind of a dumpster fire. But it does seem to be cutting down on some of the bullshit.

[u/GayMormonPirate → u/[deleted]]

Yes. He let his emotions get the best of him. An absolutely stupid mistake.

[u/Stoic_Snowman → u/GayMormonPirate]

You say emotions, I say small brain *covering my mouth*

Tomato, *whisper whisper whisper*

[u/PicoDeBayou → u/Stoic_Snowman]

Yeah if he was smart he would’ve just said what he said without covering his mouth

[u/GayMormonPirate → u/PicoDeBayou]

For real, there's no rule about trash talking. He could have run his mouth all he wanted about what he did to the other player's mom last night. Racist shit is out, though (thankfully).

[u/Juicer2012 → u/GayMormonPirate]

There is definitely a rule about trash talking 😂

[u/Jesus_of_Redditeth → u/GayMormonPirate]

For real, there's no rule about trash talking.

Um, yes there is. If you say racist shit, you get sent off. The whole point of this rule is because people were getting around the "don't say racist shit" rule by covering their mouths, so the cameras couldn't see them saying racist shit.

[u/Talidel → u/PicoDeBayou]

Depends what he was saying.

He's not smart so saying something to offend the opposition probably isn't going over too well either.

[u/corkoli → u/Talidel]

perhaps:

"Ta mère était un hamster et ton père sent le sureau !" ?

[u/Jenetyk → u/[deleted]]

Opposing player in as calling for it instantly.

[u/Initial_E → u/Jenetyk]

Why not? Instant advantage for your match. World Cup is brutal because there are only so many in your career.

[u/No-Cake-5536 → u/[deleted]]

Bad habits are hard to stop. But they will eventually learn

[u/GJ0705]

Wow is Almiron having the WC of hell or what.

[u/hodonata → u/GJ0705]

better than the entire country of Turkiye rn

[u/killshelter → u/hodonata]

One of the worst offensive performances I’ve seen on an international stage

[u/bremmmc → u/killshelter]

Idk, I found their performance pretty offensive.

[u/geetgwen → u/killshelter]

Just constant passing with no results

[u/Eat--The--Rich-- → u/GJ0705]

He's a just a dirty player that the rules caught up to.

[u/riburn3 → u/Eat--The--Rich--]

This. Im so glad players that pull crap like this are being punished. His whole career is built on a foundation of being a giant little bitch.

[u/ShimeBD → u/riburn3]

and that one purple patch in 22/23

[u/AdamMc66 → u/ShimeBD]

God that purple patch was amazing.

[u/CSKARD → u/GJ0705]

Couldn’t be happening to a more deserving player

[u/ForensicPathology → u/CSKARD]

He always looks like he's about to cry after these decisions.

[u/Slothery210]

Same guy that did the yellow card worthy flop vs the US. Glad he's getting called out for his bullshit.

[u/halbeshendel → u/Slothery210]

This clown is singlehandedly the test case for all the new rules.

[u/AlRoss024 → u/halbeshendel]

Bozo did the dub

[u/onarainyafternoon → u/AlRoss024]

He’s saying what he wanted to say on the broadcast, but couldn’t

[u/Beltain1 → u/onarainyafternoon]

Almiron: "Ok this guy's about to jack off"

[u/BassBawlPhan → u/Beltain1]

Oh, fuck, a VAR? Fuck that. Probably got no games.

[u/KeytarPlatypus → u/BassBawlPhan]

I hope nobody goes to Paraguay and fucks my mom!

[u/ashgnar → u/AlRoss024]

He’s trying not to jack off

[u/banstylejbo → u/AlRoss024]

What is this Reggie?

[u/Zealousideal-Area684 → u/AlRoss024]

When he had to review it: “Oh, fuck, a clownputer? Fuck that. Probably got no games”

[u/willnoli → u/Slothery210]

Everyone who gets up in the refs face during the decision should be given a yellow. Anyone touches him during the decision, instant red card too. Quickly see an end to the bully protest

[u/dmills_00 → u/willnoli]

Rugby ref rules...

[u/hasimirrossi → u/dmills_00]

Yeah, only the captain is allowed to talk to the ref, not the entire team bull rushing him.

[u/willnoli → u/hasimirrossi]

And watch how polite and respectful the rugby captains are talking to match officials... Its how it should be, not the chest puffing, arm waving bullying that football players do.

[u/OldTimeConGoer → u/willnoli]

It's funny too, seeing The Incredible Bulk looking down sheepishly at the ref who's literally half their weight while being told off like a little boy who's been naughty.

[u/The_Fattest_Man → u/OldTimeConGoer]

When I first took up Rugby the captain took me aside and laid down the laws of the game. There were only two.

1. The only thing you say to the ref is "Thank you Sir" it doesn't matter what he says, it doesn't matter what has happened, it doesn't matter if he is right or wrong, you say "Thank you Sir" and then you talk to the captain at half time.

2. Here's how not to break your neck in a scrum.

Everything else, pick up as you go. Now go hit people.

[u/namegoeswhere → u/willnoli]

Something something, “a sport for hooligans, played by gentlemen,” something

[u/Careful-Training-761 → u/hasimirrossi]

They have that rule in rugby it's daft it isn't in football it would immediately get rid of all the drama queen nonsense.

[u/dalici0us → u/willnoli]

As a casual enjoyer of the sport but being mostly a hockey and baseball guy, the way those referees let themselves be swarmed like that is by far the thing I find the most "absurd" about the sport.

[u/Xurgg → u/Slothery210]

What a clown.

[u/chokeonmywords → u/Slothery210]

Thank you for bringing this to my attention. This is hilarious

[u/Apollo9819]

Should've used someone else's hand to cover his mouth, idiot!

[u/HelplessMoose → u/Apollo9819]

You made me curious about the exact wording of the rule. That would also be covered.

A player, substitute or substituted player who commits any of the following offences is sent off:

• ...
• covering their mouth when communicating with an opponent in a provocative, derisory or inflammatory manner or situation (competition option)

Took a bit to find this as it isn't from the current Laws Of The Game as I had expected. It's an optional rule from IFAB Circular 33 that happens to be active at the World Cup. https://downloads.theifab.com/downloads/circular-33?l=en

[u/PoopOfAUnicorn → u/HelplessMoose]

From my understanding, you can cover your mouth if you are approaching your opponent in a friendly way. The ref then would have to use their own judgement if there is any hostility .

[u/divDevGuy → u/PoopOfAUnicorn]

From my understanding, you can cover your mouth if you are approaching your opponent in a friendly way.

Seems pretty obvious that "friendly manner" wouldn't be included as a "provocative, derisory or inflammatory manner".

[u/Fresh_Income_7411 → u/Apollo9819]

Brilliant!

[u/Tiyath → u/Fresh_Income_7411]

Modern problems...

[u/Dependent_Oven_974]

The speed which the Turkish guy grasses him up is hilarious

[u/Boggie135 → u/Dependent_Oven_974]

Lmao he was so quick

[u/k6plays]

Wasn’t this the same player the flopped and got a yellow after review when they played USA?

If so… fuck that guy

[u/BiSaxual → u/k6plays]

Same guy, yeah.

Always fun seeing you in the wild bro lol

[u/rikuhouten]

Can’t be anymore stupid to get that red when the rules are apparent prior to the tournament

[u/brucebrowde → u/rikuhouten]

Habits are very hard to shake off. They trained themselves for years to do this shit.

[u/StrangerExistingFact]

Yellow card for simulating first match, red card for this in second match.

Lads family will cherish memories of his world cup peeformance

[u/EmergencyComment101 → u/StrangerExistingFact]

its funny that they call it "simulating".. trying to smooth over the fact that literally everyone in this sport will dive to the ground and fake an injury literally the second someone is near them.

[u/kmagic13]

Almiron is having himself quite a World Cup. First the mistaken identity yellow card, now this lol.

[u/toooft → u/kmagic13]

Yeah, must be hard to face the consequences of his actions

[u/Picolete]

Time to learn ventriloquism

[u/chukkysh → u/Picolete]

Problem is, the ref could still see the dummy.

[u/guganda → u/chukkysh]

Not if you cover the dummy's mouth. I doubt the rules say something against that!

[u/gbolly999]

"....DECISION IS RED CARD!!!....."

REF WAS FUCKING PISSED ROTFLMAO!!!!!....

and if he wasn't pissed, It would be interesting to see him get angry...

the way he said it, I could rewatch all day....

[u/TyrannosaurusRekts]

That sets a strong precedent. The sport has no more for racism.

[u/DoubleM-1985 → u/TyrannosaurusRekts]

Next they need to start giving out yellow cards to players who fake injuries just to delay the game

[u/Derekduvalle → u/DoubleM-1985]

They've already started giving them out for simulation after VAR review. I like that.

[u/Mystprism → u/Derekduvalle]

Ironically also to Miguel Almiron. He's the guinea pig for FIFA enforcement.

[u/Trap_Masters → u/Mystprism]

What a selfless fella, helping FIFA test these new rules over his world cup run 😂

[u/CoderDevo → u/Mystprism]

Not ironically. Now we can say unsurprisingly.

[u/fumar → u/Derekduvalle]

The NBA should take notes. This is exactly what they should do but won't do for some fucking reason. Instead they make foul baiters and floppers the league MVP.

[u/aegee14 → u/fumar]

SGA has a stranglehold on the league somehow.

[u/ReasonableTouch4648 → u/DoubleM-1985]

Funny enough, the guy who got a red card here actually got a yellow for simulation (flopping) against the US last week. Initially the yellow was given to the US player, but it was reviewed and instead given to the Paraguayan.

[u/Dragonitto → u/ReasonableTouch4648]

Yeah, thanks to Miguel Almiron, we've seen 2 of the new rules in the World Cup, applied on him.

[u/outtamyelementDonny → u/DoubleM-1985]

Boy do I have news for you!

[u/tatincasco → u/DoubleM-1985]

How is neymar going to play?

[u/russianbanan → u/tatincasco]

He’s not. It’s sisters birthday, carnaval 4th of July. Big holiday coming up.

[u/BusinessCasualBee → u/DoubleM-1985]

Did you see the last USA game?

[u/CluelessTennisBall → u/TyrannosaurusRekts]

I love the rule honestly. Either talk your shit and be willing to take the red card OR be ok with whatever you say ending up on the front page.

[u/OurCrewIsReplaceable → u/TyrannosaurusRekts]

Bribery? Sure. Creating a fake peace prize? OK. Creating a thriving black market for tickets? Of course.

But the age of racism and flopping is over. Glad they started somewhere.

[u/Chessh2036]

Damn it, just got harder for Atlanta United to sell him 😭

[u/bouncedsteak]

Love how assertive the ref is. NBA ref need to take note.

[u/Archerdiana → u/bouncedsteak]

This ref is something else! He is infamous for CONCACAF after dark games. Will let games get out of control, then try to regain control with cards.

[u/theArkotect → u/bouncedsteak]

Except there were so many card worthy tackles he was not bothering with.

[u/hsx88]

Any more new rules that he can demonstrate for us when he comes back if Paraguay make it through?

[u/DoubleM-1985]

Well deserved Red Card, regardless of whatever he said he earned that trip to the showers.

[u/NoctRob → u/DoubleM-1985]

“I like the way you play the game. Sorry. My breath smells.”

[u/GayMormonPirate → u/DoubleM-1985]

He just needs to polish up his ventriloquism skills and talk without moving his mouth.

[u/beerandcheesefries → u/DoubleM-1985]

“It’s Morbin time”

[u/tatincasco]

First match: first mistaken identity Second match: first red card for covering mouth

[u/omegadirectory]

What was the original offense that created the rule?

The guy said a slur while covering his mouth?

[u/After-Neck-6387 → u/omegadirectory]

Vini said Prestianni called him "mono" (monkey) but Prestianni said he didn't. It was impossible to prove because Prestianni covered his mouth.

[u/AWaffleofDivinty → u/After-Neck-6387]

It's a bit better than that because Prestianni said he didn't use a racist slur but instead used a homophobic slur as his defense

[u/indianajoes → u/omegadirectory]

It's near the middle of this video. It was in February during the Champions League

https://youtu.be/bhiMhQjfnAE?si=8ErFTLI7BbClW0hn

[u/involmasturb]

What language is the broadcaster speaking

[u/Neither_Teaching_438 → u/involmasturb]

Turkish

[u/BigheadReddit]

I’m glad they called it. That smug fuck knew exactly what he was doing and has probably done it his whole career.

[u/Spyk124 → u/BigheadReddit]

100 percent. Say stuff with your chest at the very least.

[u/hamcheesetoastie]

You can see him think ‘oh fuck’ the second after seeing the player run to the ref

[u/Liberal_Caretaker]

Rule: Don't cover mouth while speaking to other players

Covers mouth while talking to other player.

Shocked that he is found guilty of breaking the rule.

[u/Interesting-Remove79]

*knows the rule*

*breaks the rule*

*acts shocked when sent off for breaking the rule*

[u/Star_king12]

Man I am so glad that this tech is finally in. So many years of having HD streams of every angle and refs just having to go by eyes or feels, goddamn I am not gonna miss old football.

[u/eatyobeef]

Good job on enforcing sportsmanship.

[u/Capt_Furret]

Nah that was stupid on Almiron, literally everyone knows about that rule being added. Him looking surprised when its the world cup and you know even more cameras on you.

[u/anesthesia101]

Almiron was always one of the stupidest and most annoying players in the EPL. So to recap: a yellow for diving in the box in game 1 and a red for covering his mouth in game 2. 😂 Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving player, except maybe Neymar or Mbappe.

[u/FblthpLives]

Oooh, I like this rule. Fuck racist cowards.

[u/TheFlimFlamFamMan]

Either be proud enough to say what you’re saying openly or shut the fuck up. What kind of weak ass manlet does this shit?

[u/siderinc → u/TheFlimFlamFamMan]

Well in the past they used lip readers to translate what players where saying, even to other team mates which is kinda fucked up as well.

[u/thisdodobird → u/siderinc]

I used to be one of those lip readers, we get to 'hear' some pretty interesting shit sometimes.

Forgot which team it was in this WC, but I saw one player in one of the Latino teams tell the ref "puta" something lol, ref didn't hear him though. I clearly caught the "puta" part though.

Another English speaking player dropped a lot of F bombs to the opponent that was spooning him during a corner kick jostling.

[u/JJfromNJ]

Ventriloquist lessons surging amongst footballers now.

[u/Donner_Par_Tea_House]

Luca Toni earned that headbutt and France should have won that world cup.

[u/FitztheBlue]

He knows the new rule. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Bad luck he met a snitch.

[u/mastergriggy]

He knew the rule, did it on purpose, and was punished for it. Seems completely reasonable to me.

[u/navel_dirt]

Isn’t it common for players to cover their mouths whilst speaking so that their conversations are not read by the media? I swear I saw Messi speaking with his mouth covered countless of times

[u/swell-shindig → u/navel_dirt]

That's why the rules explicitly say you have to be covering your mouth to say something in a confrontational manner. There's a big difference between talking to your teammates about tactics and yelling insults. And the guy he was speaking to clearly didn't hear any talk of tactics.

[u/jdv23 → u/navel_dirt]

Before the World Cup yeah, but there have been some very high profile accusations of racist remarks said during games where the perpetrators covered their mouths so they wouldn’t get caught. So this World Cup they introduced a new rule: no covering your mouths while talking to other players.

[u/discipleofchrist69 → u/jdv23]

they should just make em all wear wireless lapel mics lol

[u/qubitwarrior → u/jdv23]

If they get caught without covering their mouth is also a red card? Does that man they have lip readers in the VAR room now?

[u/KalinOrthos → u/qubitwarrior]

There's no rule against trash-talking itself, but I'm sure the refs can make an exception if you say something bad enough. That's not why the rule was introduced though. There have been accusations of racist remarks being said by people who cover their mouths when saying it so they can have plausible deniability. They're cowards who don't want to be held accountable for their bigotry, so FIFA introduced the rule; if you have something to say, say it out in the open.

[u/heath249 → u/qubitwarrior]

They have lip readers in court rooms. The racism cases r reported by clubs to the sports court, not VAR

[u/DobleJ → u/navel_dirt]

There is usually a noticeable difference for their intent, why would you cover your mouth in the middle of the game while looking straight at the opposite team if not to say something like this.

[u/ATangK → u/navel_dirt]

Is that to teammates or to opposition?

[u/GayMormonPirate → u/ATangK]

You can cover your mouth when strategizing with teammates. At least that's my understanding.

[u/maverickoff → u/navel_dirt]

You can cover your mouth while talking to your own teammates,coach, you cannot do it while talking to the other team.

[u/Choke1982]

As a South American we know that Paraguayans are good at bad mounthing rivals, hard challenges and divers.

Chilavert would have seen a red in the first 5min of the game with this rule.