Blue Card rule in soccer- All you need to know

Football is all set to launch a new groundbreaking rule with the introduction of blue cards, handed out to players for committing a foul. The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has approved the measure and will be tested in local games across Europe soon.

According to a report by The Telegraph, the blue card soccer could be put into practice as soon as next season. Although they aren’t likely to be used in top football divisions and competitions, the new cards could be experimented with in the FA Cup, League Cup and Women’s FA Cup.

The new method of booking comes as part of ‘sin-bins’ protocols, where a player is dismissed from the match for 10 minutes. It will occur in case a player gets a blue card, whereas a combination of a blue and a yellow card will see the player sent off from the game altogether. That will also be the case if a player receives two blue cards in the game.

What is a blue card in soccer?

Quite simply, blue card in football are inspired by similar measures in hockey and rugby, where a player is sentenced to a box or a bench known as a sin-bin for some time for an offense committed during a game. If a player commits a foul that’s worth more than a yellow but less than a red, he will go into the books with a blue card and will be suspended from the ongoing clash for 10 minutes. If he receives a second blue after that, it will lead to a red and he will be dismissed from the remainder of the match, just as one would in case of two yellow cards.

More specifically, a player can receive a blue card in two main circumstances – if he thwarts a promising attack with a cynical foul or if he remonstrates with the referee.

Also Read: Lawmakers to Introduce Blue Card in Soccer – Sin-Bin Trials to Begin Soon

What’s The Bigger Picture?

This marks the first instance in over 50 years that a new card will be used for disciplinary action since the introduction of red and yellow cards at the 1970 FIFA World Cup. It’s also worth noting that the blue card has already been in use at the grassroots level in Wales as part of a sin-bin trial. 

Domestic leagues that were involved as part of the testing include Central Wales Football League, North Wales Coast East Premier Division, North East Wales Reserve League, Highadmit Projects South Wales Alliance League, Macron West Wales Premier League and the Gwent Premier League.

Football Association of Wales chief executive Noel Mooney, said: “The mission is to make football the most inclusive, accessible and successful sport in all parts of Wales. The temporary dismissal trial will help us achieve our aim by encouraging fair and respectful behaviour in grassroots football which will only increase participation and strengthen the game as a whole.”

On the other hand, FIFA have further clarified that all rumours of the blue card being used in elite-level football are false. It further urged that is the concept is indeed implemented, it must be limited to lower levels.

On X, formerly Twitter, FIFA Media’s official account put out a note, saying: “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.”

What Other Cards Have Been Used?

In January 2023, a referee brandished a white card during a clash between Benfica and Sporting CP’s women’s teams in Portugal. 

For the first time in football history, the card was put into practice during an official game, but unlike the red and yellow cards, the white isn’t a penalty card. Rather, it is used to promote good behavior on the field. Known as a ‘fair play card’, referee Catarina Campos showed it after the medical staff of both sides rushed to attend to a fan who fell ill in the stands, rewarding their sportsmanship.