The lives of referees, footballers and fans are about to get a lot more complicated with the introduction of blue cards, set to be announced this Friday as part of sin-bin trials for the professional game.
As per Telegraph Sport, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) have signed off on what would be the first new card to be used at the top end of the sport since the advent of yellow and red cards at the 1970 World Cup.
The revolutionary move will be announced by IFAB as part of sin-bin protocols that will see players removed from the pitch for 10 minutes if they commit a cynical foul or show dissent towards a match official. Which I guess means we’ll be seeing blue cards in every game, unless it has the desired effect of cutting out all cynical fouls and dissent towards officials (yeah right).
From what I can see, the general sentiment on social media towards the introduction of blue cards has not been good. Football referees and VAR (in the Premier League at least) already have a hard enough time remaining consistent when it comes to dishing out yellow cards and red cards, so now they’re going to have a whole new card to confuse themselves over. Why make a job that they already can’t do properly even more difficult? Who even asked for this nonsense?
I can’t imagine footballers themselves will be happy with blue cards either, as it’s just another way of neutering them on the pitch so they can’t express that raw, natural emotion that makes football so exciting. I mean, who even gets to decide what a ‘cynical foul’ is? Where exactly is the line where complaining at the ref becomes ‘dissent’? It’s going to be so annoying watching players on your team have to take a time-out on the sidelines like a naughty schoolchidren just because they got mad at the referee for making a dumb decision.
Anyway, I guess we’ll have to wait and see how the trials go and whether they decide to introduce blue cards permanently at all levels of the game. Bad news for your Rodris and Brunos, that’s for sure.
To watch the brutal way Riyad Mahrez told his tearful wife that they were moving to Saudi Arabia so he can play in the Saudi Pro League, click HERE.
