Arsenal defender Piero Hincapie received a straight red card for speaking while covering his mouth in a situation of confrontation in Ecuador’s World Cup round-of-32 game against Mexico on Tuesday.Hincapie, 24, became the second player to get sent off for the offence, after Miguel Almiron infamously made history for doing so in Paraguay’s group-stage win over Turkey.The incident happened in second-half added time, with Ecuador 2-0 down. Hincapie went up to Mexico striker Santiago Gimenez and spoke to the AC Milan player with his hand over his mouth.Gimenez then went over to referee Slavko Vincic to complain about the offence, just as Turkey’s Mert Mulder did two weeks ago when Almiron did the same thing.Hincapie will receive an automatic one-match ban for the red card, with FIFA’s disciplinary committee holding the power to extend the suspension if it chooses to. Paraguay’s Almiron had his ban kept at one game.
What is the new law?The International Football Association Board — the body which sets the rules of the game — changed its laws in April to include players covering their mouths in instances of confrontation being punishable with a red card.The law was added after an incident involving Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior and Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni in a UEFA Champions League match in February.During that match, Vinicius Jr alleged that Prestianni had racially abused him when the Argentine spoke to him while covering his mouth with his shirt. Prestianni denied racially abusing Vinicius Jr and was later hit with a six-game ban, three of which were suspended, for homophobic conduct.There is no indication that Hincapie said anything discriminatory.Referee Slavko Vincic went to the screen before showing a red card to Hincapie. (Reuters / Eloisa Sanchez)Hincapie walks off the pitch after being sent off. (Reuters / Raquel Cunha)Hincapie becomes the second player at this World Cup to be sent off for breaching the new law. (Carl Recine/Getty Images)“If a player covers his mouth and says something, and this has a racist consequence, then he has to be sent off, obviously,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino told Sky News in March.IFAB then convened an extraordinary meeting where the decision was made to make the action of covering your mouth while confronting an opponent a red-card offence.“If it is a friendly conversation, they can continue to do it without any problem,” FIFA referee chief Pierluigi Collina explained in June.When it is confrontational, it is a completely different story. Covering the mouth means you are doing something potentially very wrong.“This is something you do on purpose. It is not something that a player can do instinctively.”Mexico won the game 2-0 thanks to goals from Julian Quinones and Raul Jimenez. They will face the winner of England or DR Congo in the last 16 back in Mexico City.
