Ecuador defender Piero Hincapie became the second player sent off under FIFA’s new mouth-covering rule — popularly known as the “Vini Jr. Law” — after covering his mouth while arguing with an opponent during the World Cup round of 32 match against Mexico.
The incident occurred in the 47th minute of second-half stoppage time at Azteca Stadium on Tuesday, when Hincapie clashed with Mexican striker Santi Gimenez and covered his mouth while speaking to him. Gimenez drew the referee’s attention, and VAR prompted Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic to review the footage. After viewing the replay, Vincic showed Hincapie a straight red card.
Mexico won the match 2-0 to advance to the round of 16, where they will face the winner of the England-DR Congo match.
The first player to be sent off under the rule was Paraguay’s Miguel Almiron, who received a red card in the first round for covering his mouth during an argument against Turkey.
FIFA introduced the rule for this World Cup to prevent potentially offensive or discriminatory remarks from being concealed. The rule was inspired by an incident in which Real Madrid’s Vinicius Junior accused Benfica’s Peristiani of making a racist remark while covering his mouth. Peristiani denied the allegation but was later banned by UEFA for six matches.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino said when approving the rule: “If a player covers his mouth and says something that has a racist impact, he must be sent off. We have to assume he said something he should not have. Otherwise, he would not need to cover his mouth.”
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