FIFA president Infantino rules out use of blue cards
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has categorically rejected the idea of incorporating blue cards into any future sin bin trial in football.
The proposed use of blue cards was intended to signal a temporary dismissal of a player, as part of trial protocols scheduled for publication on February 9.
These protocols had been approved at a board meeting of the International Football Association Board earlier in the week.
However, the announcement of blue cards on February 8 was met with widespread criticism, prompting the IFAB to postpone the publication of the protocols. The decision was made to allow for further discussions at the organization’s annual general meeting over the weekend.
On the eve of Saturdays meeting in Loch Lomond, Infantino said: “There will not be any blue cards used at elite level. This is a topic that is non-existent for us.
“FIFA is completely opposed to blue cards. I was not aware of this topic. I’m the president of FIFA and I think FIFA has a say in the IFAB. So, I don’t know if you want the title, ‘It’s red card to the blue card’!
“Every proposal and every idea has to be treated with respect, of course. But, once you look at it, you also have to protect the game, the essence of the game, the tradition of the game and there is no blue card.”
The proposed introduction of a blue card, as initially envisioned in the trial, would have marked the most significant change in player discipline management since the introduction of red and yellow cards at the 1970 World Cup.
However, it is now understood that while the trial itself will continue to be developed, it will likely occur at a lower footballing level than originally planned. The February 9 protocol, which aimed to encourage applications from various competitions but not the very top-level ones, has been put on hold due to the controversy surrounding blue cards.
Prior to the debate surrounding blue cards, the Football Association, one of the five bodies comprising the IFAB, had expressed interest in conducting a trial in the men’s and women’s FA Cups in the future.