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Referee Catarina Campos 2021
Photo:
Razvan Pasarica / sport pictures / IMAGO
Some fans looked puzzled, others applauded: referee Catarina Campos showed the first white card in football history at a cup game in Portugal.
Unlike the colors red or yellow, the card, which has so far only been available in Portugal, does not impose a penalty, but rewards fair play behavior.
In the cup game between the women's teams from Sporting and Benfica Lisbon, a player complained of being unwell on the bench shortly before the break.
The team doctors from both teams rushed over immediately and treated the player, who quickly recovered.
Campos then drew the white card and pointed to both medical departments.
Benfica won the game 5-0 in front of 15,032 spectators.
In Portugal, white cards are part of an initiative to promote “ethical values in sport”.
Yellow and red cards were introduced at the 1970 World Cup in Mexico.
German referee Kurt Tschenscher, referee of the opening match, was the first referee ever to show a yellow card in professional football.
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