A blue card is going to be tried out in professional football, according to news reports in the UK.
The Telegraph says that on Friday, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which sets the rules for the game, will show off its plans for the new method.
Why would you use blue cards?
The report says that a blue card would be used to punish players who make cynical fouls that don’t deserve a red card, like a challenge that stops a good attack, or who are too rude to the referee.
When a player gets a blue card, they have to stay in the sin bin for 10 minutes.
What if two blue cards are shown to a player?
The Telegraph also says that IFAB’s plans call for players to get a red card after getting two blue cards. If they get one blue card and one yellow card, they will also be kicked out of the game for the rest of it.
A story in the Telegraph says that England’s Football Association (FA) is thinking about using the men’s and women’s FA Cups next season as test runs for the blue card.
When was the last time the cards were changed?
The cards system hasn’t been changed at the top level since yellow and red cards were added before the 1970 men’s World Cup. Adding a blue card would be the first change to that system.
The head of UEFA, which is in charge of football in Europe, Aleksander Ceferin, has spoken out against the blue card idea, saying, “It’s not football anymore.”