Players at World Cup who cover their mouths in confrontations to receive red cards

Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni covered his mouth when speaking to Real Madrid's Vinicius Jr in a Champions League game earlier this year, and was later sanctioned for homophobic conduct. Angel Martinez/Getty Images FIFA is expected to introduce new rules that could see red cards issued to players who cover their mouths in situations of confrontation with an opponent at this summer's World Cup. World football's governing body is also set to instruct the tournament's match officials to send off anyone who leaves the pitch in protest at a decision they have made. This development follows a special meeting of IFAB, the game's lawmakers, in Vancouver ahead of the FIFA Congress in the same city on Thursday and, as it stands, will not be implemented in any other competitions. The onus will be on the referee to consider all circumstances before issuing a red card, which FIFA hopes will be a deterrent. It comes off the back of Gianni Infantino, the FIFA president, calling for changes to the rules following the incident in February that saw Real Madrid's Vinicius Jr accuse Benfica's Gianluca Prestianni of racism during a Champions League game. Prestianni, who had his shirt over his mouth, denied making racist remarks and was banned by UEFA for six matches -- three of those are suspended -- after admitting to making homophobic comments. "If a player covers his mouth and says something, and this has a racist consequence, then he has to be sent off, obviously," Infantino told Sky News in March. "There must be a presumption that he has said something he shouldn't have said, otherwise he wouldn't have had to cover his mouth." Meanwhile, the push to send off a player who leaves the pitch in protest at a referee's decision comes after the extraordinary and controversial scenes in the Africa Cup of Nations final, when Senegal left the field of play for an extended period of time after Morocco were awarded a late penalty. Senegal went on to win the match but the result of January's final was overturned by the Confederation of African Football's appeal board, with Morocco instead being handed the trophy. This is now being challenged by Senegal in the Court of Arbitration for Sport.