ATLANTA – In a historic first for international soccer’s showpiece tournament, Paraguay international midfielder Miguel Almiron has received a one-match ban and will miss his side’s final Group Stage fixture against Australia this Thursday, becoming the first player ever expelled from a World Cup match for violating the new rule banning mouth covering during player confrontations.
FIFA formally confirmed the disciplinary action on Tuesday, adding that the ruling is not eligible for appeal. The red card that sparked this suspension was issued late in the first half of Paraguay’s 1-0 victory over Turkey last Friday, when Almiron covered his mouth during an on-pitch verbal clash with Turkey’s Mert Mulder, an infraction that triggered an immediate sending-off under competition rules.
The new regulation at the center of this incident was approved back in April by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), soccer’s global governing body for the Laws of the Game. The rule states that any player who covers their mouth to hide their words during a confrontation with another player can be punished with a straight red card. Notably, the rule is not a mandatory core part of the official Laws of the Game, instead allowing individual tournament organizers – including FIFA for the World Cup – to opt into adopting it for their competitions.
The push for the new regulation came from FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who advocated for the change after a high-profile controversial incident during last season’s UEFA Champions League. In that match between Real Madrid and Benfica, Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni was caught on camera covering his mouth while directing homophobic abuse at Real Madrid’s Vinícius Júnior. UEFA ultimately handed Prestianni a six-game ban, with three of those matches suspended, for what the governing body labeled “discriminatory (i.e. homophobic) conduct.”
On Tuesday, Infantino doubled down on his support for the new rule during an interview with SNTV, framing the policy as a core issue of respect and accountability on the pitch. “This thing about covering the mouth is for us a very, very important rule,” he said. “It’s about respect, it’s about the example that we should give. If you have nothing to hide, you don’t cover your mouth when you speak to somebody. The rules have been made very clear to everyone, everyone knows them, so this is an important element.”
For Paraguay, the suspension leaves the side without their key playmaker for a do-or-die group match against Australia, raising new questions about how the new regulation will shape future matches and disciplinary outcomes in top-tier soccer competitions.