Green card, the future third football card?
Green card? In some countries they are using it to reward fai play while in others, it is used as an intermediate sanction between the yellow and red card.
Every football lover, even those who do not watch football, know that in this sport there are 2 cards, the yellow card and the red card. It is incorporated 52 years ago since they were used for the first time in the 1970 World Cup (Mexico). The idea is to use color cards as neutral language to communicate the intention of the referee acting in the match. However, in some countries, there is a third card, the green card. The yellow and red cards are always intended to warn and penalize the player, while the green card rewards the player.
The purpose of the green card is to reward fair play
This card has a purely symbolic value to recognize the good behavior of footballers. It won't influence anything, it won't change the outcome of a match, but it is a way of rewarding fair play, which FIFA so much seeks to achieve. For example, about 9 years ago, in a Serie A match between Napoli and Lazio, Miroslav Klose scored a goal with his hand. All the Napoli players began to get angry with the referee, who had not seen the handball. However, after a few seconds, the German striker approached the referee and told him the truth, the goal had been scored with his hand. After this, the referee annulled the goal at the same time that the Napoli players approached Klose to congratulate him on his fair play gesture. Although the green card did not exist at the time, everyone agrees that this example is a perfect case of a green card.
This idea was born in 2016 and it was Italian football that created it. In the game between Vicenza and Cesena, from the Serie B of Italian football, the green card appeared for the first time, in honor of fair play. Cristian Galano, who played for Vicenza, was the player who received this card for the first time in history. In the midst of the controversy over whether his shot should be sanctioned as a corner kick or a goal kick, the Italian football player accepted that he had sent the ball out of the goal. The central judge made the correct decision with the help of the player and the latter received the first green card in football history. It should be noted that the referee does not have a green card in his pocket, he only informs at the end of the match that the player obtained the green card. The idea is that at the end of the season, whoever receives the most green cards gets a prize.
Cristian Galano was the first player to receive the green card
Argentine football also implemented this idea, but only in games with children and adolescents. Renzo Ferraro, a boy who played for Argentinos Juniors, was the first football player in Argentina to receive a green card from a referee. What he did was a simple gesture, helping an opponent on the ground to get up.
The child Renzo Ferraro received the green card for helping an opponent get up from the ground
On the other hand, the ConIFA (Confederation of Independent Football Associations) also uses the green card but in a different way. If a player receives a green card, he must leave the match immediately, but another player will enter his place. It is like an intermediate sanction between the yellow and the red card. In addition, the player expelled with the green card will be able to play the next game. Unlike FIFA, ConIFA does use a physical green card. This green card was only used once, during the third edition of the CONIFA World Cup 2018.
ConIFA uses the green card as a sports sanction
Although FIFA is not very focused on implementing this idea globally, it is very possible that in the coming years, more and more countries will decide to use them in their leagues.
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