Highlights
- Football’s blue card is likely to be scrapped due to doubts on necessity and effectiveness by IFAB directors.
- Premier League managers and UEFA president have expressed concerns over confusion and negative impact of the new rule.
- Despite the blue card potentially being dismissed, sin bins for dissent and anti-football actions could still be introduced.
Football’s most recent experiment is seemingly going to be short-lived as the recently proposed blue card looks set to be scrapped.
It was revealed in early February that the International Football Association Board planned to announce the addition of caution, which would be trialed in top leagues across Europe. This was initially postponed after IFAB held discussions with FIFA regarding the rule change, which was met with criticism across the footballing landscape.
Less than a month later, it appears that we could be saying goodbye to the blue card before it was even introduced, with reports suggesting that the idea is likely to be taken off the table during IFAB’s annual general meeting on March 2nd.
Blue card to be scrapped
Officials are unsure if it is necessary
According to a new report from the Telegraph, there is serious danger of the proposed idea of the introduction of a blue card being scrapped entirely. This comes as directors of IFAB are unconvinced regarding the necessity of such a card and how much it would be required during the proposed trial period.
The reaction to the possibility of the new rule was widely met with negativity when it was first revealed. Premier League managers including Ange Postecoglu, Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta all spoke out against the idea, suggesting it could lead to more confusion and kill the game.
Even UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin admitted that he wasn’t supportive of the idea and didn’t see it as the right solution for the problem it was attempting to tackle.
It is believed that plans to trial the blue card at the elite level have already been cancelled. It remains to be seen what proposal is made when IFAB meet in Scotland to discuss what next steps to take.
Blue card designed to tackle dissent
Despite the caution being scrapped, sin bins are still expected
The decision to introduce the blue card was designed to tackle the ever growing problem of dissent in professional football. The notion was that should a player receive a blue card, they would be forced to sit out of the game for a period of time before being allowed back onto the pitch. Once back on, if they received a second, then it would lead to the player being sent off. This would work in the same way as two yellow cards.
One of the prominent counter-arguments to this was that clubs were unsure what would happen if a goalkeeper was sin-binned. The supposed idea was the teams would have to make a choice between putting an outfield player in goal for the duration, or making a permanent substitution.
Although the blue cards days appear to be numbered, the idea of trialing sin bins is likely to still be given the green light in some capacity when IFAB meet on Saturday. According to the Athletic, players could be sin binned not only for dissent, but also for cynical tackles that are deemed as ‘anti-football actions.’ This would likely incorporate tactical fouls designed to stop a promising counter-attack.
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