FIFA President Gianni Infantino has suggested that a new rule be introduced to deal with racist comments made by players during matches.
During the first leg of Benfica's Champions League clash against Real Madrid at the Estadio da Luz, Vinícius Júnior made accusations of discriminatory abuse towards Gianluca Prestianni.
The Benfica winger was accused of making several racist comments towards the Brazilian, after he was seen approaching Vinícius Jr with his hand in front of his mouth, although he denies these allegations.
Following the incident, UEFA launched an official investigation into the alleged racist comment, while Benfica coach José Mourinho stated that Prestianni's career at the club would be over if he was found guilty.
Now Infantino has reacted, suggesting a new rule that he says would prevent similar incidents in the future.
Players covering their mouths during conversations with teammates or opponents is nothing new, as they try to avoid being caught on camera.
However, during Saturday's meeting of the International Football Association Board (IFAB), Infantino said this is becoming a problem, as players can hide controversial comments.
To combat this, the FIFA president suggested a more intrusive approach to punishing players who cover their mouths to prevent cameras from detecting what they are saying.
He told Sky News: "If a player covers his mouth and says something, and it has a racist consequence, then he should be sent off, obviously.
There has to be an assumption that he said something he shouldn't have said, otherwise he wouldn't have covered his mouth. I just don't get it – if you don't have something to hide, you don't cover your mouth when you speak. It's that simple.
"These are actions we can and must take to be serious in our fight against racism," he said.
If Infantino tries to implement this rule, it could be approved before the World Cup this summer, with the upcoming FIFA Congress in Vancouver next month potentially being a key date for discussing the measures.
Speaking further on the issue, Infantino suggested that punishments could be mitigated if the guilty players come forward and take responsibility for their actions.
"Maybe we should think not only about punishment, but also about changing our culture, giving players or anyone who does something the opportunity to apologize," he added.
"You can do things that you wouldn't do in a moment of anger and then apologize, and in that case the sanction should be different. We need to go a step further and maybe we should think about something like that," the FIFA president concluded./Express newspaper/
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