Paraguay's Miguel Almirón was shown a straight red card by referee in the first half during his team's Group D clash against Türkiye at the San Francisco Bay Area Stadium on Saturday (Friday in the US).
The Atlanta United player scripted history for the wrong reasons as he became the first player in the history of the FIFA World Cup to be dismissed for covering his mouth whilst directing a comment.
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Ahead of the start of the tournament, FIFA introduced a several new rules. Among those rules is that a player cannot cover his mouth during a confrontation with an opponent. If he breaks this rule then the referee will punish him with a red card.
It is on the basis of this rule that Almiron was shown the red card by referee Iván Barton.
The incident took place late in the first half following a foul on Paraguay forward Isidro Pitta, which sparked a heated confrontation between players from both teams. Barton initially allowed play to continue, having missed the incident.
However, after being alerted by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), Barton reviewed the situation and subsequently dismissed the Atlanta United midfielder, making Almirón the first player at the tournament to be sent off for the offence.
FIFA introduced the regulation, widely referred to as the "Prestianni Law", as part of its efforts to crack down on players using concealed insults on the pitch. The rule was implemented following an incident involving Benfica youngster Gianluca Prestianni, who directed a homophobic slur at Real Madrid forward Vinícius Júnior during a Champions League match.
At half-time Paraguay were leading Türkiye 1-0.
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