FIFA distanced itself from the information about the blue card
The Board of the International Football Association (IFAB) has postponed the introduction of a new blue card as part of rules to improve good practice in professional football, sources told ESPN.
Soccer lawmakers in November announced measures to improve player behavior and increase respect for referees, including temporary suspensions for dissent and specific tactical fouls.
Premier League referee Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images
The IFAB He was due to announce protocols for the trial on Friday, including a blue card to distinguish the violation from a yellow and red card.
However, there will now be no announcement until after the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the IFAB on March 2, when all proposed testing and legal changes will be discussed before being approved for use starting June 1.
The FIFA distanced himself from reports of a blue card on Thursday night.
“The FIFA “wishes to clarify that reports about the so-called ‘blue card’ at the elite levels of football are incorrect and premature,” the sport’s governing body said in a statement on Thursday.
“Any such testing, if implemented, should be limited to testing responsibly at lower levels, a position that the FIFA intends to reiterate when this agenda item is discussed at the IFAB Annual General Meeting on 1 March.”
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Rules to improve good practice have already been successfully implemented at lower levels of football since 2019-20, when players were ordered to leave the field for 10 minutes if they disrespected a referee.
The new test for top-level football, which is expected to last at least 12 months, will include situations where a player deliberately ‘takes out’ an opponent in an attacking situation when a red card is not justified.
An example of this was the Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini who dragged the Englishman Bukayo Saka by the neck in the final of the Euro 2020.
Grassroots football in England, which has a particular problem with abuse of referees by players, has been using the yellow card to indicate infringement in 31 leagues since the 2019-20 season.
However, even after the test is formally approved at next month’s Annual General Meeting, fans will not see the blue card in high-level competitions such as the Premier League, LaLiga, the UEFA Champions League, Euro 2024 or the Copa América.
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Testing throughout next season will not be permitted at the highest level, and it would not be until 2026-27 before it can enter the Laws of the Game.
In fact, there have been several lower league trials in recent years aimed at combating dissent, such as moving a free kick 10 meters forward, which have not been included in the Laws.
Sources have told ESPN There is limited support for this new rule among the major leagues, and while the Football Association has the option of trialling it in competitions such as the Women’s Super League and FA Cup, it is not expected to be adopted.