Blue Card in Football: Purpose and Rules Explained

A blue card is set to be introduced in football as part of a sin-bin trial. Any player given a blue card must leave the field for 10 minutes. The blue card is part of an effort to stamp out dissent and blatant, cynical fouls. Football has already introduced white and green cards to go with the traditional yellow and red cards. 

Two blue cards or a combination of blue and yellow cards will see players sent off for the duration of the match. SportsBoom understands that other trials to clamp down on bad on-field behaviour and protocols for sin-bins were supposed to be published in February but have been delayed by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the sport’s lawmaking governing body. 

When Will the Blue Card be Introduced in Football?

Nobody knows when the blue card will be introduced in football. According to an article in The Athletic, the Football Association (FA) wants to trial sin-bins in the men’s and women’s FA Cups next season. FIFA, however, clarified on February 8, 2024, that trials must initially be restricted to the ‘lower levels’ of football. 

The competitions were supposed to be decided at the IFAB's AGM on March 1, but the blue card protocols were the subject of further discussion at the IFAB’s annual general meeting at Loch Lomond, Scotland, on March 2, 2024. The new protocols and laws are yet to be decided. 

Has the Blue Card Been Trialled at Any Levels of Football?

There have been several pilots of blue card sin-bins carried out at amateur and youth-level games in England and Wales. Sin-bins were only used to punish dissent. The blue card would not be the first new card to be used in the sport since the advent of yellow and red cards at the 1970 World Cup. Blue cards are used in several other sports like roller hockey and indoor football. 

According to FA chief executive Mark Bullingham, trials have led to a very small number of blue cards being shown. Speaking to BBC Sport in November 2023, Bullingham said: “The success of sin-bins in the grassroots game has been prevention, rather than cure. You get to a point where players know the threat of sin-bins, so don’t transgress. And we would hope that it would make the same change [senior level].”

The FA rulebook for the use of blue cards in small-sided football states that the card will be issued for unsporting behaviour, persistent infringements, entering the field of play without permission, failing to adhere to the required distance for defending set plays, dissent, and delaying the restart of play.

Bullingham added: “When we were looking at sin bins, protocol clearly has to be developed. The areas we were looking at were dissent. Where it’s worked very, very well in the grassroots game in England. We’ve also spoken about other areas, particularly tactical fouls.

“I think frustration for fans watching games when they see a promising counter-attack that’s ruined by that and the question of whether a yellow card is sufficient for that has led to us looking at whether that should be involved in the protocol as well. The starting point was looking at player behaviour and dissent – we’re then looking at whether we should extend it into other areas, such as tactical fouls, as well.”

But not every organisation is a fan of the blue card concept. UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin boldly declared to The Telegraph, the blue card would be “the death of football”. He has not introduced the new card to the 2024 UEFA European Championships or the UEFA Champions League. It has been reported that the English Premier League will not trial the green card. 

On February 8, 2024, FIFA also released a statement to the media on Twitter/X: “FIFA wishes to clarify that reports of the so-called ‘blue card’ at elite levels of football are incorrect and premature. Any such trials, if implemented, should be limited to testing in a responsible manner at lower levels, a position that FIFA intends to reiterate when this agenda item is discussed at the IFAB AGM on March 2.”

Have Any Other Coloured Cards Been Trialled and Introduced?

Former UEFA president Michel Platini first introduced the concept of the white card in football. The controversial Frenchman wanted the white card to be used as punishment for players who had shown the officials any dissent. He proposed that if a footballer received a white card, they would spend 10 minutes on the sidelines in the sin bin.

Platini’s concept never took off. However, Portugal introduced the white card as a form of ‘Fair Play’. The white card was first issued by a referee in the Portuguese Women’s Cup quarter-final match between Benfica and Sporting Lisbon on January 21, 2023. 

The green card was used during the 2018 CONIFA World Cup, a tournament for non-FIFA-affiliated countries. A green card was an ‘in-the-middle’ card between the red and yellow. Green cards were issued for diving (cheating) and dissent. 

Paddy Power introduced the green card. The Irish betting site sponsored the tournament. If a player received a green card, they would have to be substituted immediately, and they could not return.