4 months ago
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Ange Postecoglou and Jurgen Klopp have both expressed their disagreement with the idea of blue cards being introduced into football.
Yellow and red cards are currently used by referees for warnings and sending offs respectively but reports say the International Football Association Board [IFAB] want to partake in trials of blue cards.
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A player would be shown one for a cynical foul or dissent towards a referee and removed from the pitch for ten minutes as part of a sin-bin, similar to rules in rugby.
However, initial reaction from fans as been mostly negative and managers of two of the Premier League's biggest clubs have raised their doubts over the potential introduction of a third card.
"I struggle to understand why this urgency suddenly to bring in new things," said Tottenham boss Postecoglou on Friday. "I don't know if there's that much wrong with the game.
"My issue with the game right now is that VAR has changed football as an experience. I don't know why a different colour card is going to make a difference.
"I don't know about this taking things from other sports. Other sports are trying to make their games faster, we're bringing in more clutter."
Liverpool boss Klopp said: "I think what the actual situation shows, we should make it and keep it as somehow possible for the referees as well. It's a difficult job, we all know that, we're often quite emotional when we speak about it because it's most often after the game.
"I think the introduction of a new card would just give more opportunities to fail as well because the discussion will be, 'It was a blue card, should have been a yellow card, now it's ten minutes off, in the good old times it would have been a red card or only a yellow'.
"Whatever, these kind of things just make it more complicated. If they want to test it, I have no problem with testing but if that's the first step to agreeing or already being I'm sure that it will happen, but I don't know that to be honest, I have no idea.
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"It doesn't sound like a fantastic idea in the first moment but actually I can't remember the last fantastic idea came from these guys, if they ever had one, IFAB. No, I'm 56, nah, never."
Postecoglou and Klopp may be against the idea of blue cards but their introduction in top-flight football is unlikely to come soon anyway as FIFA responded to the initial proposals.
Leeds fan goes on angry tirade over the proposed 'blue card' being introduced to football by referees
"FIFA wishes to clarify that reports of the so-called 'blue card' at elite levels of football are incorrect and premature," said football's international governing body.
"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 1 March."
It was previously claimed that FA Cup and Women's FA Cup matches could potentially be used as competitions for blue card trials, with plans for trials to begin as early as next season.
The Premier League and Women's Super League would be excluded, given their status as top-flight competitions.
