On Friday February 9, the IFAB (International Football Association Board), which brings together the English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh football federations, is expected to announce new refereeing rules. Among them, according to The Telegraph, the establishment of a blue card. The latter will aim to sanction cynical faults and vehement challenges to the referee. If a card of this color is received, the offending player will be excluded from the field for 10 minutes. In the event of a repeat offense, the guilty player will receive a red card. Same sanction in the event of accumulation of a blue card and a yellow card.
A system already existing in French amateur leagues. The white card, which excludes for ten minutes a player guilty of protest, has been put in place on certain Regional pitches such as in Brittany or in the Grand-Est.
This entry of the blue or white card into the professional world should not concern major competitions like the Euro or the Champions League for the moment. The device will be applied in the test phase during FA Cup matches, according to the Telegraph.
This principle of blue card and temporary exclusion crystallizes the positions within the European Federations. Aleksander Ceferin, the leader of UEFA, firmly opposed the implementation of these rules during an interview given to the Telegraph on January 25, 2024: “It’s no longer football. We will not use them in UEFA competitions. I would leave football as it is. I think we don’t need to change the rules.”
Conversely, Pierluigi Collina, president of the FIFA referees commission, is in favor of this development as he said in November 2023: “The test was conclusive among amateurs. We are now talking about a much higher, highly professional level. »
