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A center-referee, Catarina Campos made history in Sporting Lisbon vs Benfica match in Portugal, issuing a white card for the first time ever in football history, an event that occurred on 23rd January this week at Estadio de Luz. The crowd cheered and applauded for this card that had been shown to the medical staff.
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| Referee Catarina Campos who showed the first ever white card in the history of soccer. |
The white
card is part of new introductions including concussion subs and longer stoppage
time that will likely be adopted soonest. The card is shown to
encourage fair play and is designed to 'improve ethical value sports'.
During the derby of the women's teams Benfica and Sporting Lisbon, the
white card instead of a yellow or red card was shown for the first time in
history. Why? In the event of a medical emergency, the doctors from both teams
got together and helped a player together. The card was shown shortly before
half time after someone in the dugout fell ill, with medical staff from both
sides rushing to their aid.
As a reader, you could by now be asking yourself, could we see the white
card being used elsewhere, say Premier League, La Liga or?
Well, as far as we know, the card has only been used in Portugal and it
remains a question of whether and when the white card will be adopted in other
top flight competitions across Europe or even get backed by FIFA, the
regulatory body of the game.
It should also be remembered that a ‘green card’ was once used in
football but never gained that popularity to be used in top flight leagues. It
was implemented in Italy's Serie B league and used during the 2018 Conifa World
Cup, which is an international tournament for countries that are neither
associated nor affiliated with FIFA.
What is CONIFA?
CONIFA represents over 700 million people allover the world and as ealier said above comprises countries deemed 'outside' FIFA. These countries include but are not limited to the following states; United Koreans in Japan, Western Papua, Katanga, Somaliland, Western Sahara, Yoruba NFF ,Zanzibar, ANBM, Cascadia, Kuskatan, Aymara, FAD de Estado de São Paulo, Mapuche, Maule Sur, Rapa Nui, SF Armenio Argentina, Oceania, Australian, First Nations,Hawai’i and Kiribati
In this competition, green cards were given for fouls that were
considered to be between a yellow and red card offence. If a player received a
green card, they had to leave the field immediately, but could be substituted
if the team had not already made all their changes and Cristian Galano was the
first player to receive the first ever green card an event that took place when he
indicated to the referee that a goal-kick should have been awarded instead of a
corner.
