The world of football is about to get hit with a significant change to the game: the introduction of Blue Cards.
What is a Blue Card? A Blue Card is a new measure being introduced by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to address issues of dissent and cynical fouls. The card will be used to send players to a sin-bin for 10 minutes if they commit a cynical foul or show dissent towards an official. The new protocol will be announced on Friday, and it is expected to be trialed in the summer according to The Telegraph.
Under the new protocol, the blue card will be used for fouls that prevent a promising attack and for instances of dissent towards match officials. A player will receive a red card if they accumulate two blue cards during a match or a combination of yellow and blue cards.
However, not all football organizations are in favor of the sin-bin. Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin has stated his opposition to the measure. Despite this, sin-bins could still be introduced in the Champions League if trials lead to their inclusion in the laws of the game.
Fans React
Fans are against the introduction of the Blue Card, as they believe it could lead to more confusion and inconsistency in the game. They argue that the new measure could be difficult to implement and could lead to more disputes between players and officials. Critics of the Blue Card also believe that it could lead to more games being decided by the referee’s decisions rather than the skill and performance of the players.
