“Everyone knows what yellow and red cards lead to in football, and there is a clear understanding that it is better not to get them, but with a white card it is still not clear: what is the stimulus? He showed the card, and then what? FIFA could have thought about this issue for a long time and expressed its encouragement in a more tangible way, so that there was an incentive and, more importantly, an understanding of what to fight for. Well, for example, a team that has scored the most cards in a month/year, losing a game, has the right to add three minutes to the main time. The choice of the match worth joining is the coach’s decision during the game. Here is the stimulus. And we also need a regulation to show a white card. And then they will start showing up for no reason… And then the players will start demanding these cards. In general, FIFA came up with it, but did not think it through,” Dobrovinsky told Soviet Sport.
In the meeting between the women’s teams Benfica and Sporting de Portugal, which took place on January 21 and ended with a score of 5: 0, at some point one of the players fell ill – a medical team appeared on the field. When they managed to normalize the athlete’s condition, the referee showed them a white card as thanks for the assistance provided.
Such a gesture by the referee was received with thunderous applause from the fans. Although some in social networks are sure that the use of a white card is just a waste of time. At the same time, the innovation was approved by the International Football Federation, although so far only in Portugal.
