Players could be booked for spitting due to COVID-19 risk

FIFA's chief medical officer, Belgian doctor Michel D'Hooghe, has proposed a curious change in the rules of football to prevent possible coronavirus infection during matches.

The organisation's doctor proposes that footballers who spit on the pitch should be punished with a yellow card, as this is a risk of catching the coronavirus and "is by no means an aseptic action". 

"If spitting wasn't hygienic before the pandemic, it's much less so now because it's potentially dangerous to the health of others," D'Hooghe said in a statement published by The Daily Telegraph. 

The sight of a player spitting on the pitch is one of the most common images of any match, but from now on it could become punishable if the International Board adds it to the list of prohibited actions during a match.