The Bundesliga will take a different approach to two refereeing measures used at the 2026 World Cup, including the controversial punishment for players who cover their mouths during confrontations. Rather than showing an immediate red card, German referees will be instructed to punish the gesture with a yellow card. The decision was confirmed by the German Football Association, the DFB, ahead of the 2026/27 season.
The policy was agreed by the DFB’s refereeing subsidiary, led by managing director Knut Kircher, and the Bundesliga’s football commission. According to Kicker’s report on the new refereeing instructions, covering the mouth with a hand or shirt during an argument will be treated as unsporting behaviour. However, the offence will not in itself be considered serious enough to justify a dismissal.
World Cup rule led to two red cards
The gesture was punished far more severely at the World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Paraguay’s Miguel Almirón was sent off after covering his mouth during a confrontation in the 1-0 group-stage victory over Turkey. Ecuador defender Piero Hincapié later became the second player dismissed under the measure during his country’s 2-0 defeat by Mexico.
The measure was introduced to prevent players from concealing potentially discriminatory or abusive comments from cameras and lip-readers. However, it is not an automatic or universally binding red-card offence. IFAB’s official announcement of the measure makes clear that competition organisers may choose whether the gesture should be punished with a red card.
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That distinction means the Bundesliga is not refusing to follow the Laws of the Game. Instead, German football is using the discretion specifically granted by IFAB and adopting the less severe sanction also expected in UEFA competitions. The approach allows referees to punish the behaviour without immediately reducing a team to ten players.
Bundesliga also rejects VAR checks on corners
German football has also decided against extending VAR’s authority to corner-kick decisions. At the World Cup, video officials were allowed to correct a clearly incorrect corner award, but only when the check could be completed immediately and without delaying the restart. The measure was introduced as an optional tool rather than a compulsory part of the VAR protocol.
As Sportschau described in its report on the Bundesliga’s decision, VAR will not intervene in corner-kick decisions in Germany’s professional leagues. The original decision made by the referee and assistant referee will therefore stand, even when television replays suggest that the wrong team was awarded the corner. The aim is to limit the number of interventions and prevent further interruptions to matches.
UEFA competitions are expected to use the expanded corner-kick provision, meaning the Bundesliga will follow a different policy in this area. German clubs could therefore encounter one VAR standard in domestic matches and another when playing in European competition. The contrast may create confusion, although IFAB’s rules explicitly allow individual competitions to decide whether to adopt the measure.
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Other World Cup measures will remain
The Bundesliga will adopt several other changes that were tested during the World Cup. VAR will be allowed to intervene when a clearly incorrect second yellow card results in a player being sent off, while referees will also enforce stricter measures designed to reduce time-wasting.
Players taking too long over throw-ins or goal kicks will face a visible five-second countdown. Substituted players must leave the pitch within ten seconds, while players who receive treatment on the field will normally be required to remain outside the playing area for one minute after the restart. Exceptions will apply in circumstances including head injuries and fouls that result in disciplinary action.
The result is not a complete rejection of the World Cup’s refereeing experiment, but a selective adoption of its most significant changes. German football has accepted measures intended to improve match flow while choosing a more restrained approach to mouth-covering incidents and VAR reviews of corner kicks. The Bundesliga’s policy shows how differently the same international framework can be applied from one competition to another.
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