"Blue Card" Reports Incorrect And Premature - FIFA
FIFA has refuted reports that a blue card is to be introduced in professional football as part of sin bin trials to be announced this Friday.
A sin bin is an area off the field of play where a player who has committed a foul can be sent to sit for a specified period.
In a statement issued this Friday, FIFA said reports about the introduction of a blue card at elite levels of football are incorrect and premature, adding that the issue will be discussed at the International Football Association Board (IFAB) on 02 March. FIFA said:
FIFA wishes to clarify that reports of the so-called “blue card” at elite levels of football are incorrect and premature.
Any such trials, if implemented, should be limited to testing in a responsible manner at lower levels, a position that FIFA intends to reiterate when this agenda item is discussed at the IFAB AGM on 2 March.
This comes after English outlet, The Telegraph, reported that football lawmakers International Football Association Board (IFAB) will announce the revolutionary rule change on Friday, although it won’t be implemented at the top level straight away.
However, the publication also reported that elite trials could still begin as soon as next season.
The introduction of the blue card will be the first major disciplinary change since the introduction of the yellow and red cards at the 1970 World Cup.
The blue card is envisaged to limit fouls that prevent a promising attack or counterattacks with shirt pulls or other deliberate fouls plus dissent.
A player will be shown a red card if he/she receives two blue cards during a match or a combination of yellow and blue.
According to the report, players will be removed from the field for 10 minutes if they commit a cynical foul or show dissent towards a match official.
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