FIFA is set to introduce new rules to regulate the on-pitch behaviours of players. This comes after Benfica’s Gianluca Prestianni confronted Vinicius Jnr during his side’s clash with Real Madrid, where he covered his mouth with his jersey while speaking, and Vinicius insist that the player called him a monkey, a remark mostly linked to racism.

Following the incident, UEFA launched a probe into it to ascertain the truth, as the Benfica forward insists he didn’t racially abuse Vini.

In reaction to this, the president of the global football governing body, Gianni Infantino, has opined that players who cover their mouths in on-pitch confrontations should be sent off, as there should be a presumption they have said something they "shouldn't have."

"If a player covers his mouth and says something, and this has a racist consequence, then he has to be sent off, obviously. There must be a presumption that he has said something he shouldn't have said; he wouldn't have had to cover his mouth.

There are situations which we did not foresee [Prestianni case]. Of course, when you deal with a disciplinary case, you have to analyse the situation, you have to have evidence, but we cannot just be satisfied with that going forward."

In light of this, Gianni Infantino revealed that his outfit will introduce new measures to prevent players from covering their mouths during a fracas on the pitch. FIFA announced at Saturday's meeting of the International Football Association Board (IFAB).

"You can see when a player is talking to an opponent, there are very few circumstances where they should need when they're confronting them to cover their mouth," Mark Bullingham, English FA CEO and IFAB member, said.

Measures could be agreed and implemented in time for use at this summer's World Cup, with next month's FIFA Congress in Vancouver the next important staging post.

Infantino, meanwhile, wants to encourage guilty parties to take public responsibility.

Gianluca Prestianni responds to racially abusing Vini

Responding to the allegations of racism, the Benfica midfielder has denied calling Vini a monkey. He said,

“I want to clarify that at no time did I direct racist insults at Vinícius Júnior; he unfortunately misinterpreted what was said. I have never been racist towards anyone. I was never racist with anyone, and I regret the threats I received from Real Madrid players”

Despite his denial, Real Madrid’s Mbappe insists that he heard Estadio call Vini a monkey about 5 times, asking that he be banned from the Champions League.

Before Estadio’s response, Vini Jr posted on his Instagram, calling racists cowards.

His post read, “Racists are, above all, cowards. They need to put their shirts in their mouths to show how weak they are.

“But they have the protection of others who, theoretically, have an obligation to punish them. Nothing that happened today is new in my life or in my team’s life.

“I received a yellow card for celebrating a goal. I still don’t understand why. On the other hand, it was just a poorly executed protocol that served no purpose.”

In a post on their official X account, alongside a video of the alleged incident, Benfica defended Prestianni.

“As the images demonstrate, given the distance, the Real Madrid players could not have heard what they claim to have heard,” was the Portuguese club’s message.

Mourinho's remarks on incident

Benfica manager Jose Mourinho was captured having an interaction with Vinicius Jnr after he walked off the pitch following the interaction with Prestianni.

Speaking during a post-match interview, he indicated that he had been told different stories by both Vini and his player, Prestianni. However, he insists that he remains neutral and wouldn't take sides.

In addition to expressing his belief that Vinicius had been disrespectful with his goal celebration, he pointed to the club’s legendary striker Eusebio as proof that Benfica is not a racist club.

Asked if he felt Vinicius incited the crowd, Mourinho said: “Yes. I believe so.

“It should be the crazy moment of the game, an amazing goal. Unfortunately, he was not just happy to score that astonishing goal. When you score a goal like that, you celebrate respectfully.”

He continued, “I told [Vinicius], when you score a goal like that, you just celebrate and walk back. When he was arguing about racism, I told him the biggest person in the history of this club [Eusebio] was black.

“This club, the last thing that it is, is racist. If in his mind there was something in relation to that, this is Benfica.

“They [Vinicius and Prestianni] told me different things. But I don’t believe in one or another. I want to be independent.”

Vinicius Jr has been a subject in many cases of racial abuse over the years during his career, especially in Spain’s La Liga, and most recently in European competition.