Coughing to become a red card offence in new FA rules

Football in England was suspended for three months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, but returned in June, with Liverpool winning the Premier League and Arsenal claiming the FA Cup.

The new season is due to start on September 12 and the authorities have been busy ratifying new regulations, with coughing at opponents punishable but individuals spitting and groups celebrating still within the rules.

An FA document seen by the Times states: "Where the referee is certain that someone deliberately, and from close range, coughed into the face of an opponent or match official . . . the referee should take action under the law 12 ‘using offensive, insulting or abusive language and/or gestures’.

"The action of moving the head/mouth towards someone and then coughing would fall within the ‘spirit’ and general definition of a gesture which is ‘a movement of part of the body, especially a hand or the head, to express an idea or meaning’.

"If the incident was not severe enough to merit a sending-off, a caution could be issued for ‘unsporting behaviour — shows a lack of respect for the game’."

Several people in the UK have been sent to prison for deliberately coughing at fellow citizens. In March, Diego Costa was condemned by his club Atletico Madrid for doing likewise to members of the press after his side's Champions League win over Liverpool.