In a statement, FIFA denied the short-term introduction of the so-called blue card in professional football categories. The organization tried to respond in this way to the different information published yesterday by media such as The Telegraph about the imminent implementation of this regulatory novelty, which would be announced this Friday by the body in charge of developing the rules of the game, the International Football Association Board (IFAB). ).
“FIFA wishes to clarify that reports about the so-called ‘blue card’ at elite levels of football are incorrect and premature,” they explained on social media, denying information that blue cards would begin to be tested in elite matches. this same summer.
The organization explained its position regarding this new type of punishment, warning that, for the moment, blue cards should be experienced only in lower categories: “Any test of this type, if implemented, should be limited to carrying out tests in a responsible manner at lower levels.” They also added that this is a position that FIFA will reiterate at the IFAB Annual General Assembly on March 2.
According to The Telegraph, football regulations would soon introduce the novelty of blue cards, with which players who commit tactical fouls or protest the referee’s decisions would be punished with a ten-minute expulsion. A player would be sent off from the match if he receives two blue cards, or one blue and one yellow (and vice versa). Furthermore, according to the newspaper, the IFAB would also have approved a test so that only team captains have the right to speak to referees, as is already done in rugby.
It would be the first time that a new disciplinary card has been introduced since the arrival of the yellow and red cards in the 1970 World Cup.
