SOCCER
Blue card comes to soccer: when will it be used and what will it mean?
According to The Telegraph, IFAB is set to unveil its plans for the blue card on Friday, with the system to be trialled in professional soccer for the first time.
A blue card is set to be trialled in professional soccer, according to a report in the UK media.
The Telegraph says that the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which governs the laws of the game, is to unveil its plans for the new system on Friday.
What would blue cards be used for?
Per the report, a blue card would be used to punish players who commit non-red-card-worthy cynical fouls - such as a challenge that cuts out a promising attack - or show excessive dissent towards the referee.
Players receiving a blue card will be sent to a sin-bin for a 10-minute period.
What if a player is shown two blue cards?
Under IFAB’s plans, the Telegraph adds, players will be shown a red card if they receive two blue cards. They will also be dismissed for the remainder of the game if they pick up one blue card and one yellow card.
According to the Telegraph’s report, England’s Football Association (FA) is weighing up volunteering next season’s men’s and women’s FA Cup as competitions in which the blue card can be tested out.
When was the cards system last changed?
The introduction of a blue card would be the first time the cards system has been modified at the elite level since yellow and red cards were brought in ahead of the men’s World Cup in 1970.
Aleksander Ceferin, the president of UEFA, European soccer’s governing body, has opposed the blue-card idea, saying: “It’s not football anymore.”