How will the blue card influence football, should FIFA agree to introduce it to top-tier tournaments?

The news about introducing a blue card in football has made headlines. Not unexpectedly. On the one hand, thinking about launching this new discipline measure means that the IFAB is currently working on finding ways to cope with a problem that is continuously growing in the last years, and on the other hand, the whole issue of a new card that will be something in-between the red and the yellow cards probably has a number of implications for the game itself.

Should the IFAB decide to make the blue card an integral part of football’s regulations, the effects are going to be felt by everyone involved -directly or indirectly- with the sport. It’s going to affect football players of course, coaches and managers, referees, audiences, fans, brand sponsors, and even the casual sports bettors who like to pick one of the best online casinos in Ireland or any other Irish betting site to wager on their favorite teams on any given match.

The blue card will work as a preventive measure, as they say, though it seems more that it will eventually be used as a punishment for misbehavior, poor attitude or generally unacceptable behavior on the pitch. Theoretically, the blue card is going to be given to players for cynical fouls and dissents or disputes.

Once a player is shown a blue card, he will be suspended from the game for 10 minutes, sent to the sin-bin and only after that time, will he be able to return to the game. If the player is shown a blue card one more time in the same game, then this equals a red card! Similarly, if a player receives a blue and a yellow card, then this will also equal a red card.

The initial conception of the blue card draws on the fact that referees need to be able to officiate matches much more effectively and efficiently without being ill-treated by the players. The idea is that this measure will prevent footballers from misbehaving during playtime and the whole officiation will run as smoothly as possible, making the game more fair for everyone. The IFAB has announced that it will first run trial tests on lower levels to see whether this new card will actually bring the desired results.

FIFA completely opposed the Board’s suggestion for the blue card in top-tier tournaments, ruling out the possibility of seeing it in high-level football games. Their opposition is based on the grounds that such a measure would distort the essence of the sport, would interfere with the quality of games and would mess up the flow of any given match.

Well, this may be pretty much the case. If the blue card actually gets into top football competitions, then it will affect both those on the pitch and those outside the pitch.

For footballers, being suspended for some time may result in losing momentum or generally disengaging from the match. The sin-bin can be disorienting for players who are 100% focused on the game and once they return, they may find it really hard to reconnect.

But it’s not only the player who receives the blue card that is affected. Obviously, the whole team will be affected and in an effort to restore balance, the rest of the players will most likely do things in this direction. Finding ways to waste time until the suspended player returns will be a common response, in their attempt to regain some of the previous equilibrium. And just like that the whole flow of the match will be destroyed. 

This will have further implications for the whole game and the quality of the match that the audiences have paid to watch. If the quality of football becomes lower, then people will not be that interested at some point in the future. And if they are not interested, they won’t be eager to buy tickets, purchase merchandise, wager on football on sites at Apostasdesportivas, or support actively their favorite clubs or players and generally they won’t be eager to engage in any way.

What is described above is only one scenario regarding how the blue card is likely to affect football, should FIFA -the governing governing body- decide to introduce it in the higher level competitions. There are too many concerns as to whether this measure is going to work and several people  - among whom fans, officials and players- have voiced their belief that the blue card is going to gradually destroy football and change the way it is currently played.