Football will introduce blue cards to expel for ten minutes anyone who commits tactical fouls or protests to the referee

Efe London

London

Updated Thursday, February 8, 2024-18:47

The football regulations will soon introduce the novelty of blue cards, with which players who commit

tactical fouls or protest

the referee's decisions will be punished with a ten-minute expulsion, according to the British newspaper 'The Telegraph'.

This has been decided by the body in charge of developing the rules of the game, the IFAB (International Football Association Board), which

will begin testing this type of punishment

in elite matches this summer.

It would be the

first time

that a new disciplinary card has been introduced since the arrival of the yellow and red cards in the 1970 World Cup.

This new protocol, which according to the 'Telegraph' will be announced tomorrow, Friday, will restrict blue cards to fouls that

cut off "promising attacks"

or to protests by footballers.

Additionally, a player will be expelled from the match if he receives

two blue cards, or one blue and one yellow

(and vice versa).

To allow the new regulations to gain momentum, initially

the highest level matches will be excluded

from these cards, although the English Federation wants to implement it in the Cup and Women's Cup matches next season.

Where

blue cards will not be used will be in the next Euro Cup

in Germany this summer, nor in the next edition of the Champions League.

The president of UEFA,

Aleksander Ceferin

, declared himself in a recent interview with the 'Telegraph' to be totally opposed to innovation, considering that "it is no longer about football."

The expulsion of footballers to 'cages' where they temporarily serve their punishment for protesting is already carried out in

amateur and youth matches

.

Furthermore, according to the newspaper, the IFAB has also approved a trial so that

only team captains have the right to speak to referees,

as is already done in rugby.

The leaders of the organization believe that the behavior of footballers is

"a cancer that kills football"

, so they have decided to intervene to stop this behavior and to put an end to fouls that prevent scoring opportunities but do not meet the criteria. to be punished with red.