New Delhi: The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is all set to announce the introduction of the card as part of the new measures which will see a player getting expelled from the field for 10 minutes if they commit a serious foul or show dissent at the decision of the referee. (File)
In a groundbreaking move, the referees in football games will now be handed a new blue card to brandish at players whenever they are deemed to be breaking a rule.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is all set to announce the introduction of the card as part of the new measures which will see a player getting expelled from the field for 10 minutes if they commit a serious foul or show dissent at the decision of the referee, according to a report by The Telegraph.
Additionally, a player can now be sent off if they get 2 blue cards or a combination of a blue and a yellow in the duration of a match.
According to the report, top-tier competition will be excluded from initial testing which might begin as soon as the summer with the FA Cup and the Women’s FA Cup the most likely competitions where the rule will be tested.
The blue cards have been already been used during a sin-bin trial in grassroots football in Wales and the colour was chosen so that it stands as a markedly different entity than the red and yellow cards.
Last year, in a first-ever, during a women’s derby match between Benfica and Sporting Lisbon in Portugal, a ‘white-card’ was introduced by the referee.
Since the 1970 FIFA World Cup, footy fans have become familiar with the referee flashing the yellow card and the red cards to offending players. However, this was the first time when a white card was used in the game.
This happened in a women’s cup match being played in Portugal on Saturday when someone on the bench in the dugouts reportedly felt ill at the end of the first-half.
The referee brandished the white card to both medical teams who had rushed to the aid of the unwell fan in the stands in recognition of their ‘sportsmanship’.
Agencies

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