An avalanche of news, following The Telegraph’s exclusive report on the potential introduction of the blue card to football, has prompted futsal enthusiasts to remind FIFA that this measure is far from innovative. As it has long been a distinctive feature in their sport. In fact, it served as a differentiating characteristic for futsal compared to traditional football.
It is highly paradoxical that the International Football Association Board (IFAB), responsible for establishing football rules, aims to implement the first new card color in over 50 years. Interestingly, 17 years ago, the highest authority in world football ordered the removal of the blue card from major futsal championships. Such as Spain’s LNFS or the leagues in Brazil and Paraguay.
According to Toni Rubio, a former referee with 22 years of experience: “Before FIFA altered futsal, we already used the blue card. It hasn’t been in use for decades. FIFA took it from us, and now they want it for those playing with the big ball.”
The origin of the blue card can be traced back to the inception of a sport invented in Uruguay in 1930.
Gaining tremendous popularity in South America, particularly in Brazil and Argentina. It soon became a social phenomenon in Europe. With Spain in the 1970s being one of the countries enamored with the dynamism and spectacle of futsal.
In 1971, the International Futsal Football Federation (FIFUSA) was founded in Brazil with the goal of promoting and regulating futsal globally. Throughout the 1980s, FIFUSA (now AMF) and FIFA collaborated to unify futsal rules and foster its global growth. In late 1985, João Havelange, along with his general secretary Joseph Blatter, decided to incorporate futsal into FIFA, not without controversy.
FIFA became the institutional foundation of futsal, playing a crucial role at all organizational levels. The original rules of futsal included three types of cards. Yellow served as a warning for repeated rule violations. The accumulation of two yellows led to expulsion from the field, as is the case today, but with the addition of the blue card.
The blue card could be shown directly for serious fouls or unsportsmanlike behavior, allowing the expelled player to be replaced by a teammate.
It functioned more as a disqualification. The red card, reserved for extreme cases like mass fights or attacks on referees, led to expulsion without the possibility of replacement. Leaving the team at a numerical disadvantage.
FIFA’s entry into futsal had a unifying effect on major competitions, as seen in Spain in 1989 with the creation of the National Futsal League. The LNFS, responsible for the Competition Committee, incorporated the blue card into its regulations, imposing economic sanctions based on severity rather than sporting consequences.
In most parts of the world, FIFA rules, excluding the blue card, were followed. However, countries like Spain, Brazil, and Paraguay retained the blue card for many years. The disparities in regulations did not hinder Spain from winning two World Cups (Guatemala 2000 and Chinese Taipei 2004), playing under special rules in LNFS while adhering to FIFA rules in international competitions.
In 2005, the National Futsal League, under Santiago Márquez’s presidency, ceded arbitration powers to the Spanish Football Federation, leading to the unification of rules in 2006. Despite efforts by Spanish clubs to maintain certain aspects of the blue card, FIFA rejected them, resulting in the disappearance of the blue card. Ironically, it is now being considered for a comeback in football.