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It remains to be seen whether there will also be a blue card in football in the future

Photo: Jens Wolf / dpa

The world football association Fifa has described a media report about the decision to introduce a blue card as “wrong and premature”. “If such tests are carried out, they should be limited to responsible tests at lower levels,” FIFA announced on Thursday evening. The British newspaper "The Telegraph" had previously reported that the regulators of the International Football Association Board (Ifab) had approved the test introduction of the new blue card.

This means that players will be given a ten-minute time penalty if, for example, they have prevented a clear scoring opportunity with a less serious foul or if they verbally attack officials. As the paper goes on to write, citing Ifab, two blue cards should lead to a red card just as much as a blue card and a yellow card.

According to the report, the first tests could be carried out from summer onwards, but not in the top leagues. The English Football Association is considering making the FA Cup and the women's cup competition available on a voluntary basis.

If the blue card were to be included in the football regulations, it would be the first new card since yellow and red were introduced at the 1970 World Cup. The yellow-red card with a shorter ban, actually a combination of yellow and red, followed in 1991.

The blue card is already used in handball - with a different goal

In addition, the IFAB has approved a borrowing from rugby: According to this, only the captain will be allowed to speak to the referee in the event of controversial decisions in the future in order to avoid the formation of packs.

There has been a blue card in handball since 2016. This is shown in order to make it immediately clear to everyone involved after a red card whether an additional report will follow, which will then result in a decision by the disciplinary committee.

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