A flood of blue cards invaded the timeline of football fans' social media accounts.
The reason was a possible change of rules in the sport, which would be approved by the
IFAB
(International Football Association Board), the body in charge of modifying the different articles.
The commotion that arose was such that
FIFA itself had to issue a statement
in which it clarified that, although its discussion is on the Agenda of the next meeting on March 2, the information that emerged was
"incorrect and premature
. "
"Any such testing, if implemented, should be limited to testing responsibly at lower levels, a position that FIFA intends to reiterate when this agenda item is discussed at the IFAB Annual General Assembly on 2 March"
, clarified the governing body of world football.
How would the new blue card be used?
Referees could use it in
two particular situations of the game
: when there are
excessive protests
by the players and with so-called
'tactical fouls'
, for example the interruption of a promising attack that does not result in expulsion.
Players who receive this card will be out of the game for 10 minutes, as occurs in other sports such as rugby and field hockey
.
EXCLUSIVE: Blue cards to be introduced for football sin-bins, with players removed from field for 10 minutes for cynical fouls or dissent
✍️ @ben_rumsby#TelegraphFootball
— Telegraph Football (@TeleFootball) February 8, 2024
On the other hand, the accumulation of two blues in the same match will constitute a red.
That is, expulsion from the entire match and suspension for the next match, the same result if a blue card is combined with a yellow card.
The IFAB's objective with this new rule is to limit the number of protests that referees receive during a match.
"We have identified bad player behavior as a serious problem for football
. We are examining what we can do through changes to the rules of the game. A scheduled sending off could be a greater deterrent than a warning.
There is also a lot of interest from various parties interested in the idea that only the captain can properly approach the referee
," said
Lukas Brud
, member of the IFAB, regarding this new card.
These cards are currently being used in the youth ranks of Welsh and Swedish football
.
The choice of color is mainly to differentiate it clearly from red and yellow, since, at first, it was thought that they were orange.
The blue card is already being tested in the youth categories of Wales and Sweden
Elite football leagues and competitions, for the moment, will not use this format, as they will be excluded from the initial tests until the action protocol is perfected.
For its part, the
English Federation
(FA) volunteered so that they could be tested in their competitions, the men's and women's
FA Cup
.
Next Friday there will be a new meeting on the new protocols for showing these blue cards and it is expected that it will be made official at the IFAB annual congress that will take place on March 2 and come into effect later.
Aleksander Ceferin
, president of
UEFA
, pointed out that they will not be present in the 'new' Champions League that will be launched from 2024, but the body that governs the rules of European football could be forced to introduce them if they are approved in the regulations. officially.
These new cards will undoubtedly mark a new milestone and revolution in the world of football as it
will be the first time that the card system will be modified since the current red and yellow cards were introduced in the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.