Infantino: Players covering mouths in arguments should be sent off

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·2 March 2026

Infantino: Players covering mouths in arguments should be sent off

Players who cover their mouths during discussions may be expelled, stated FIFA president Gianni Infantino this Sunday.

The head of world football reacted to the incident involving the Argentine player from Benfica, Gianluca Prestianni, accused of making racist insults against the Brazilian player from Real Madrid, Vinícius Júnior.

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"If a player covers his mouth and says something with a racist connotation, then he has to be expelled, obviously," Infantino said in an interview with Sky News.

"It must be assumed that he said something he shouldn't have. Otherwise, he wouldn't need to cover his mouth. Simply, I don't understand: if you have nothing to hide, you don't cover your mouth when saying something. That's it, it's that simple," he declared.

"And these are actions we can and must take to be serious in our fight against racism," added the Italian-Swiss official.

UEFA has provisionally suspended Prestianni until the investigation is concluded regarding the incident in the first leg of the Champions League round of 16 playoff between Benfica and Real Madrid on February 17.

The match, which Real Madrid was winning 1-0, was interrupted for a few minutes after Vinícius told the referee that the Argentine player had called him a "monkey."

The latter denied the accusations on his Instagram account, arguing that the Real Madrid player had misinterpreted what he thought he heard.

Benfica's coach, Portuguese José Mourinho, who initially supported his player, stated this Sunday that if the accusations are confirmed, Prestianni will no longer play under his command.

*With content from AFP

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.