FIFA president Gianni Infantino has called for stricter measures against players who conceal their mouths while speaking during matches, especially in situations involving alleged racist abuse.

His comments come in the wake of allegations against Gianluca Prestianni of Benfica, who was accused of racially abusing Vinicius Junior of Real Madrid during a Champions League encounter last month. Prestianni was seen covering his lips with his shirt while speaking to the Brazilian forward.

The matter was discussed at Saturday’s meeting of the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body responsible for determining the laws of the game.

“If a player covers his mouth and says something, and this has a racist consequence, then he has to be sent off, obviously,” Infantino told Sky News.

“There must be a presumption that he has said something he shouldn’t have said, otherwise he wouldn’t have had to cover his mouth.

“I simply do not understand — if you don’t have something to hide, you don’t hide your mouth when you say something. That’s it, as simple as that.

“And these are actions that we can take and we have to take in order to be serious about our fight against racism.”

Infantino’s remarks underscore FIFA’s continued push for stronger sanctions to combat racism in football.