Overview
- Football’s law panel unanimously approved the new send‑off offenses Tuesday in Vancouver, with the changes in force at the 2026 World Cup that begins June 11 in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
- Covering the mouth during a heated confrontation can now draw a red card at the competition organizer’s discretion, a step pushed after the Vinícius Júnior–Gianluca Prestianni incident that led to a UEFA ban for homophobic abuse.
- Players or team staff who leave the field in protest can be sent off under the new rule, and a team that causes a match to be abandoned will, in principle, forfeit the game.
- The amendments are optional within the Laws of the Game, but FIFA has confirmed they will apply at this World Cup, with referees using judgment and formal briefings to all 48 teams due in the coming weeks.
- Separately, FIFA has proposed a two‑stage yellow‑card amnesty for 2026 that would wipe single cautions after the group stage and again after the quarterfinals to offset the added round of 32, a plan reported as under council review.