According to Telegraph Sport, the IFAB has given the all-clear to start trials for a sin-bin with a ‘blue card’ – removing players for 10 minutes – using Giorgio Chiellini’s EURO 2020 foul on Bukayo Saka as an example.
The issue had already been debated back in November 2023 and then again Chiellini’s cynical shirt tug on Saka to stop a counter-attack from midfield was cited as an ideal representative of what would warrant this punishment.
It was originally assumed this would be called an ‘orange’ card, as that is the nickname given to a foul that is on the cusp between a yellow and red card offence.
Instead, the Telegraph report insists this will be called the Blue Card, but the result is the same – removal of the player from the pitch for 10 minutes, replicating the ‘sin-bin’ structure of rugby.
This is so that the card can be easily spotted from a distance.
The new system will be announced on Friday and be used for fouls preventing a promising attack plus dissent.
A player can also receive a red card if he receives two blue cards or a combination of yellow and blue in a single match.
The initial tests will be performance in grassroots competitions this year and could reach the FA Cup by the summer.
It already faces opposition from UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin.
It might seem strange, but yellow and red cards were only introduced in football for the 1970 World Cup.