Jude Bellingham was not punished after he spoke to Ghana’s Jordan Ayew with his mouth covered (Getty)
Paraguay have filed a complaint to FIFA after Jude Bellingham avoided a red card during England’s 0-0 draw with Ghana at the World Cup on Tuesday night.
Bellingham was seen covering his mouth during a conversation with Ghana’s Jordan Ayew but the England midfielder did not receive a red card.
For this year’s World Cup, a new rule has been implemented which enables referees to send off a player who speaks to an opponent while covering his mouth.
The ruling was urgently brought in after Benfica winger Gianluca Prestianni was given a six-match ban by UEFA for using a homophobic slur towards Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr while covering his mouth during a Champions League game in February.
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Last Saturday, Paraguay midfielder Miguel Almiron became the first player at the World Cup to be sent off for the offence as he spoke to Turkey’s Mert Muldur with his mouth covered after a heated altercation between the two teams.
Almiron was not involved in a confrontation but the video assistant referee (VAR) stepped in to recommend a red card. The former Newcastle United midfielder is now banned for Paraguay’s final game in Group D against Australia.
Miguel Almiron became the first player at the World Cup to be sent off for speaking to an opponent with his mouth covered (Getty)
According to teleSUR, Paraguay have now lodged a complaint to FIFA, accusing officials of applying double standards to the two incidents.
FIFA, however, believes the law was correctly applied in Bellingham’s case as the England midfielder was not acting in a confrontational manner towards Ayew.
What FIFA said about Miguel Almiron’s red card
(Reuters)
‘This thing about covering the mouth is for us a very, very important rule,’ said FIFA president Gianni Infantino.
‘It’s about respect. It’s about the example that we should give.
‘If you have nothing to hide, you don’t cover your mouth when you speak to somebody.
‘The rules have been made very clear to everyone.’
When asked about Almiron’s dismissal at a press conference on Tuesday, Paraguay’s head coach, Gustavo Alfaro, called on FIFA to make the World Cup a ‘level playing field’.
‘We have no intention of getting involved in any controversy,’ Alfaro said.
‘The only thing we said at the time of Miguel’s incident was that I saw two Turkish players who came and didn’t ask me politely about the things they said to us on the bench… are we going to end up with some hairdresser’s gossip? ‘Hey, hey, come here, he’s insulting me.’ What are we doing? Let’s not distort the sport of football.
‘That’s it, it’s over, period. We accept it, it’s a rule. Luckily they gave us a date. Hopefully, as I said, we’ll progress and have him available. That’s where our part ends.
‘I’m not a judge to decide if it’s right or wrong. All I’ve always asked for is a level playing field. I told the referee the other day: ‘Look, Turkey has more than enough of a team to beat us, let them beat us.’ I want a level playing field. As for everything that happens outside, that’s it, it’s not our place to comment or get involved in that.’
