Footballers who deliberately cough towards an opponent could receive a red card under new Covid-19 guidelines published by the English Football Association (FA).
The measures, published last week, apply to the restart of grassroots football in England amid the coronavirus pandemic.
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Players can be sent off if the referee is โcertain that someone deliberately, and from close range, coughed into the face of an opponent or match official,โ according to the guidelines, which will come into force immediately.
FC Schalke 04’s German goalkeeper Alexander Nuebel walks with a face mask at the club’s training grounds during a training session in Gelsenkirchen, western Germany on May 14, 2020. – Players arriving in several sparsely-populated team buses, substitutes wearing masks and goal celebrations limited to elbow bumps — when German football returns to the pitch this weekend, it will have to follow a draconian set of guidelines. (Photo by Ina FASSBENDER / AFP) (Photo by INA FASSBENDER/AFP via Getty Images)
INA FASSBENDER/AFP/AFP via Getty Images
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โGiven the current situation relating to Covid-19, if a player deliberately coughed in the face of another player, team official or match official, this could be deemed to fall within the Law 12 sending-off offense of โusing offense, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures,โโ said a spokesperson from the International Football Association Board, the sportโs law-making body.
โAs with all offenses, the referee has to make a judgement about the true nature of the offense โ if it were clearly accidental, then the referee would not take action nor if the โcoughโ took place with a large distance between the players.
โHowever, where it is close enough to be clearly offensive, then the referee can take action. This is not a new โruleโ but simply an interpretation of Law 12.โ
The guidelines add that referees โshould not be looking to punish โroutineโ coughing.โ A yellow card could also be issued if the incident is not deemed serious enough to warrant a sending-off.
Players and referees are both also encouraged to avoid spitting and shouting, and it advised that physical contact as part of goal celebrations should be avoided.
The FAโs guidelines were introduced as the country continues to ease out of lockdown, although some localized lockdowns have been implemented in England amid fears of a second wave of infection.
Source: edition.cnn.com
