The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has refuted claims that there will be an introduction of the blue card in football by the International Football Association Board (IFAB).

FIFA confirmed the development on their social media X, saying the claims are inaccurate and immature.

“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 Annual General Meeting on March 2, 2024,” FIFA said.

This follows IFAB’s plan to announce the introduction of the first new card, the blue card, in the sport since the 1970 World Cup, scheduled for Friday, February 9, 2024.

According to the new game rules, footballers will be shown blue cards and sent to the sin-bin for dissent and cynical fouls. A blue card in football will be used to force a player off the field for 10 minutes if he or she commits a foul that prevents an attack deemed dangerous or if he protests a lot to a referee.

IFAB said if a player returns from the sin-bin and receives another blue card, they will also be shown a red card and be permanently dismissed from the game. They added that the combination of one blue card and one yellow card will result in a red card.

According to IFAB, the first phase of testing will take place, possibly in the FA Cup. It will initially not be used in major competitions for the start.

“The development is important for a deliberate endeavor by power specialists across international football to improve the conduct and behavior of footballers on the pitch. There is a familiar way of thinking that such conduct streams down into spectator conduct and episodes in grassroots games with genuine life consequences for players and referees,” IFAB said.

IFAB also reported that they would expand trials of sin-bins after effective execution in a number of grassroots competitions, many of which were considerable in Britain.

The International Football Association Board was founded in 1886 by the four British football associations (the FA, Scottish FA, FA of Wales, and Irish FA) as the worldwide body with sole responsibility for developing and preserving the Laws of the Game.