Declan Rice may have been fortunate to escape punishment after breaking FIFA's new rule during England's World Cup semi-final defeat against Argentina. The Three Lions slumped to a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat in Atlanta after Anthony Gordon's opener was cancelled out by Enzo Fernandez, and then Lautaro Martinez came off the bench to head home the winning goal. However, it could have been a lot worse for England if Rice's actions were spotted by the officials early in the first half.
Incident Details
The players squared up to each other after Elliot Anderson was fouled in the middle of the pitch, prompting tense conversations between them. Arsenal star Rice chose to speak to Lionel Messi, making his protestations clear before covering his mouth. Messi did not appear to notice what Rice had done by covering his mouth, nor did any other Argentina player present in the crowd of players including Enzo Fernandez. Had they reported it to the referee, Rice might well have landed himself in hot water and potentially received a red card.
VAR did not appear to pick up Rice's cover-up, and it would appear that the 27-year-old will escape any retrospective punishment too. FIFA are yet to announce any investigation into the Gunners star, which means he is likely to be available for Saturday's third place play-off against France.
FIFA's New Rule on Mouth-Covering
The incident comes after the International Football Association Board (IFAB) announced new rules to clamp down on players covering their mouths when speaking to opponents, following the controversial incident involving Vinicius Junior and Gianluca Prestianni. The Benfica winger was slapped with a six-match global ban, ruling him out of the first two World Cup matches, after he was found guilty of homophobic conduct.
Vinicius Jr had alleged Prestianni racially abused him, an allegation Prestianni strongly denied. Because the 20-year-old had covered his mouth, it was impossible to review the footage and discover what he actually said, with only earwitnesses coming forward with their own accounts.
As a result, FIFA ruled that any covering of the mouth - coupled with an aggressive confrontation with an opponent - would result in a red card being shown. They followed through on this when Miguel Almiron made unwanted history by becoming the first player ever to be sent off for covering his mouth while speaking to an opponent. The former Newcastle midfielder was shown a straight red card after VAR spotted him covering his mouth while engaging in conversation with Türkiye's Mert Muldur, and the Paraguay international was given his marching orders. The South American nation were forced to play the rest of the game with 10 men but still went on to win 1-0.
In a separate incident, Ecuador's Piero Hincapie hid his mouth as he spoke to Mexico's Santiago Gimenez in stoppage time at the end of the second half with his side losing 2-0 and heading out of the tournament. Slovenian referee Slavko Vincic did not see the incident but showed Hincapie a red card after being advised by the video assistant referee (VAR) to watch the incident on the pitchside monitor.
Context Matters, Says FIFA Referee Chief
Rice is not the only player to have been caught covering their mouth and avoid a sending off. His England team-mate Jude Bellingham appeared to mask what he was saying to Ghana's Jordan Ayew in the group stage, but FIFA's head of referees, Pierluigi Collina, clarified that the context of the conversation is the defining factor.
“If it is a friendly conversation, they can continue to do it without any problem,” FIFA referee chief Pierluigi Collina explained. “When it is confrontational, it is a completely different story. Covering the mouth means you are doing something potentially very wrong. This is something you do on purpose. It is not something that a player can do instinctively.”
