FIFA introduces an extra yellow-card amnesty in upcoming World Cup

The new rule would be introduced due to the increased size of the summer tournament Sergei Gapon/AFP via Getty Images

All yellow cards will be wiped at the end of the World Cup group stages and after the quarter-finals to reduce the chance of players missing knockout matches.

The Athletic reported on Monday that the new rules around suspensions for accumulated bookings at this year’s tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico were going to be discussed and signed off at the FIFA Council meeting in Vancouver on Tuesday.

World football’s governing body announced the change on Wednesday, introducing a second yellow-card amnesty — as opposed to just after the quarter-finals — due to the expanded World Cup with 48 teams.

Due to there being an additional 16 teams competing, an additional knockout match — the round of 32 — has been added to the schedule.

And the idea behind tweaking the existing rules is to avoid a scenario where suspensions have piled up due to accumulated yellow cards.

If world football’s governing body did not seek a change, then a player picking up two bookings in the five games before reaching a quarter-final would result in a suspension.

But by introducing a second amnesty period after the group stages, a player would need to be issued yellow cards in two of the three group-stage matches, or in two of the round of 32, last 16 and quarter-finals to receive a suspension.

Adopting this approach, FIFA believes, is fairer as it reduces the jeopardy and should allow players to be available for key knockout matches.

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