Blue Cards Set To Be Introduced In Football For Sin-Bins

ZURICH: Football fans are quite familiar with the terms 'Yellow Card' and 'Red Card'. But, ever heard of something called 'Blue Card' in football ?

In a one of its kind move, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body that governs the laws of the sport, are considering trialing blue cards to temporarily suspend players for a few minutes in the middle of a game for committing cynical fouls.

If implemented, the blue card would feature alongside yellow and red cards.

A player would be sent to the sin-bin and removed from the field of play for 10 minutes if he/she is shown the blue card.

Resembling the yellow card rule, if a player receives a second blue card, then a red card will be shown to them, implying that the player would be dismissed from the match.

However, FIFA, the global body governing football, clarified that the trials will not be implemented in any elite level of the sport. It further stated on Friday that the rule will be discussed in the IFAB's AGM set to be held on March 2.

FIFA revealed that it will re-iterate the significance of testing the blue card "in a responsible manner at lower levels".

Notably, the specifications of this rule will be divulged next month after the IFAB's AGM.

Nevertheless, it has undergone trials in amateur leagues in England and Wales, where the player who has been shown the blue card is suspended from play for 10 minutes. 

If implemented, the blue card will be a unique warning method different from the yellow and red cards that were used for the first time at the 1970 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.

There were no players sent off throughout that tournament though and the two cards have since become an integral part of the sport at all levels.

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