Seedorf wants players punished if they talk behind hands

Seedorf's comments come after a recent incident in a match between Rangers and Slavia Prague, where Ondrej Kudela covered his mouth when speaking to Glen Kamara, who later accused him of making a racist comment.

Seedorf said there had to be more transparency on the pitch and felt that players needed to be sanctioned when they spoke behind their hands-REUTERS

Players should be sanctioned if they cover their mouths while speaking to an opponent or the referee, former Dutch international Clarence Seedorf said on Wednesday.

"For me it should be banned for them to be able to speak like that when they are playing on the pitch, when they are approaching an adversary. We are talking about sport, it has to be transparent, so why would I cover my mouth if I need to say something to my adversary?"  Seedorf said at an online European Council hearing on racism at sports events.

"If I talk with my coach, I talk with my team mates, all fine, but when I approach the referee, when I approach an adversary, in any sport, you (should) not (be) allowed to cover your mouth. If you do that there needs to be a sanction, to be a yellow card because we should avoid that kind of behaviour," he added.

It has become increasingly common for players to cover their mouths when talking to each other at the end of games or with their coaches or managers on the touchline, but Seedorf said it needed to be outlawed between opponents.

"I have seen stuff with players speaking and covering their mouth during matches. There were some racist situations in the last weeks or months where the players among themselves had hate speeches.

"Those things can be very easily attacked by implementing some rules," the former AC Milan and Real Madrid player added.

Seedorf's comments come after a recent incident in a Europa League match between Scottish club Rangers and Slavia Prague, where  Slavia's Ondrej Kudela covered his mouth when speaking to Ranger's Glen Kamara, who later accused him of making a racist comment -- which the Czech player denied.

UEFA provisionally suspended Kudela for one match and said it was looking into Kudela for a potential violation of UEFA regulations over racism and other discriminatory conduct, and for misconduct such as insulting players.