The International Football Association Board confirmed the rule change followed a FIFA-led consultation process that began at IFAB's Annual General Meeting in February.

FIFA will enforce the amendment across all 104 matches of the 48-team World Cup, which begins June 12 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

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It's important to note that referee discretion remains central and that the mouth-covering law applies specifically to confrontational situations between opponents, not routine tactical conversations among teammates.

The Incident That Prompted the Rule Change

The catalyst was a UEFA Champions League knockout match between Real Madrid and Benfica, in which Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni pulled his jersey over his mouth while making comments toward Real Madrid forward Vinicius Junior.

Vinicius alleged Prestianni called him a monkey, with teammates Kylian Mbappé and Aurélien Tchouaméni corroborating the claim; Prestianni denied racial abuse and instead admitted to using a homophobic slur.

UEFA's subsequent investigation could only confirm the homophobic language, resulting in a six-game ban, three of which were deferred on probation, handed to Prestianni on April 24.

The episode exposed a clear enforcement gap: mouth-covering allowed abusive language to go unproven and unpunished, because camera footage and lip-reading could not establish exactly what was said.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino also pushed for the changes following a separate flashpoint at January's Africa Cup of Nations final, when Senegal's players walked off the pitch in the closing stages against Morocco after a controversial penalty decision, halting play for around 15 minutes before the match resumed.

The Second Rule and What Comes Next

IFAB addressed both incidents with a companion amendment: referees can now issue red cards to players who leave the field in protest of an official's decision, and to team officials found to have encouraged such walkouts.

Any team causing a match to be abandoned under these circumstances will forfeit the result, a sharp escalation in consequences for on-field protests.

Both rules are optional for competition organisers below FIFA level to adopt.

The World Cup opens on June 11 with Mexico hosting South Africa at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, a 3pm Eastern time kickoff that translates to 5am AEST on June 12, and the revised laws will be in force from the first whistle, marking the most significant in-play disciplinary changes to precede any modern World Cup.

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