Media: Test run planned
Blue card is supposed to revolutionize football
February 9, 2024, 7:34 a.m
According to a media report, football is facing a drastic reform in the punishment of players. For the first time since the introduction of yellow and red in 1970, a new card would then be added to the rulebook. However, the road is still long.
Yellow, yellow-red, red! And soon blue too? According to information from the English newspaper “Telegraph”, the rules keepers of the International Football Association Board (IFAB) will announce the test run of a new card this Friday. Like ice hockey, for example, a sinner could also be put in the penalty box in football.
Accordingly, in the pilot project, a ten-minute compulsory break is planned as an offense for tactical fouls, and complaining to the referee could also be punished with a “cooling down”. Two blue cards would therefore be a sending off (analogous to two yellow cards). The “Sweden card” blue-yellow would then also be possible, the counterpart to the previous yellow-red.
When the Blue Card could be included in the regulations
The world association FIFA made it clear on Thursday evening that reports about the introduction of the blue card in elite leagues were “incorrect and premature”. Any attempts should be “limited to lower levels in a responsible manner”.
According to the Telegraph, such series of tests could begin this summer. The newspaper brought up the FA Cup and the Women’s FA Cup as a field for experimentation. However, other English media almost ruled this out. As ESPN reported, a possible test run will not take place in the major leagues. It was said that the blue card could not be included in the rules until the 2026/2027 season at the earliest.
In addition, the Telegraph said, the IFAB had approved a borrowing from rugby: According to this, only the captain would be allowed to approach the referee in the event of controversial decisions in the future in order to avoid the formation of packs. Yellow and red cards were introduced in football for the 1970 World Cup in Mexico. The yellow-red card with a shorter suspension, actually a combination of yellow and red, followed in 1991.