Blue card will be used in football after approval by the IFAB

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English football is studying the introduction of blue cards for the new season, as reported by The Telegraph newspaper.

On Friday (9/2), the IFAB (International Football Association Board), which is in charge of dictating the rules of football, will announce the revolutionary measure in what would mean the first new color on cards in more than 50 years.

The blue card will expel players from the field for 10 minutes if they commit a tactical foul or criticize the decisions of the match referee. Blue cards have so far been used this season during a trial in Welsh grassroots football, with the color chosen instead of orange to clearly differentiate them from a yellow or red card.

The blue card would not replace any of the existing ones, but would be added to the yellow and red ones. In fact, the punishment that would be imposed on those who see it would be halfway to those mentioned. Specifically, it would be applied in plays in which a promising attack is cut off or due to excessive protests to the referee, but without incurring what would lead to seeing a red card.

This rule was created with the objective of limiting the number of protests that referees receive during the development of matches. In this way, the players who receive them will be sent off for 10 minutes and will leave their team with one less player.

"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 support from various parties interested in the idea that only the captain can properly approach the referee," said Lukas Brud. IFAB member.

Other options for suspending a footballer will be to add a blue card and a yellow card in the match, so that they go to the locker room without the option of playing that match again.

According to The Telegraph, the blue card tests will begin next European summer. That is, at the beginning of the 2024-2025 season.

At the moment, it is unknown exactly in which leagues the blue card will be used, but everything indicates that it will not be used in first division leagues. According to different reports, the English FA Cup would be one of the competitions willing to adopt this new rule, starting with its next campaign.