FIFA President Gianni Infantino has welcomed The International Football Association Board’s (The IFAB) decision to examine how to improve player behaviour and increase respect of match officials ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2026™.

At its 140th Annual General Meeting in Hensol, Wales, The IFAB agreed to implement a consultation process to develop measures covering two areas: where players unilaterally decide to leave the field of play as an act of protest against a referee’s decision or team officials instigating such action, and players covering their mouth when confronting opponents during matches.Following a consultation process, proposalswill be tabled by 30 April 2026, well ahead of the upcoming FIFA World Cup’s opening game on 11 June 2026.

“I think it is important – and we discussed this – that we protect the respect of the game,” the FIFA President said. “Respect of football, respect of the match officials, of the referees, respect of the public. And in this respect, the behaviour of players and coaches is absolutely fundamental. They are examples for children, for society in the world, and they should definitely behave in a respectful way. And for this reason, when it comes to incidents, such as incidents of racism and discrimination, we will not allow players to cover their mouths when they speak to an opponent any more.

“We will also not allow players or coaches to walk off the field of play because they disagree with a decision of the referee. This cannot happen. The referee has to be respected. The decisions of the referee have to be respected all the time, by the players and by the coaches, and for this a proposal will be presented by 30 April, so that we can take decisions before the FIFA World Cup. And during the FIFA World Cup, we will have a great FIFA World Cup and very respectful behaviour of everyone on the field and off the field.”

The meeting also built on measures implemented over the past 12 months to speed up play and reduce time-wasting. The change in the Laws of the Game that introduced a countdown to prevent goalkeepers from holding the ball too long has been extended to throw-ins and goal kicks. Referees will now be given the option of awarding a delayed throw-in to the opposing team or handing opponents a corner for a delayed goal kick.

Substituted players must now leave the pitch within 10 seconds of being notified of the switch – failure to do so will mean their replacement will not be permitted to enter the field of play until the first stoppage after one minute of game time has elapsed. On-field assessment or treatment to an injured player will require the player concerned to leave the pitch for one minute.

There was also an adjustment to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system protocols. VAR will now be permitted to assist referees for red cards arising from a clearly incorrect second yellow card; in cases of mistaken identity when the referee penalises the wrong team for an offence that results in a red or yellow card being shown to the wrong player; and individual competitions will have the remit to use VAR for a clearly incorrectly awarded corner kick, provided the review can be completed immediately and without delaying the restart.

“It was a very interesting and important meeting with many topics on the table. We decided to move forward along the path of trying to make the game cleaner, to keep the tempo of the match higher, to clear the game of any disruption,” said FIFA Referees Committee Chairman Pierluigi Collina of the changes, which will come into effect globally on 1 July 2026, but can be implemented for individual competitions that begin before that date.

“All these decisions are targeted to improve the quality of football worldwide. It has been so in recent years and we will remain focused on this. We want to protect the game, we want to make the game more enjoyable, entertaining, and I would say better.”