Football fans divided on the scrapped “blue card”

Rugby-style sin-bins were set to be introduced to professional football in the form of “blue cards” – which would see players who have committed cynical fouls or dissent removed from the pitch for ten minutes. Two blue cards, or one blue card and a yellow card, would see the player sent off for the rest of the game.

The outcry over the proposed measure led FIFA President Gianni Infantino to "rule out" the proposed measure, saying: "It is red card to the blue card."

But what do fans think? 

YouGov data can reveal a mixed response to the idea of blue cards. When given an explanation of how the new card would work some two in five are in favour (43%) – but a similar proportion are opposed (41%). 

This isn’t the case across all demographics. By 50% to 33%, younger football fans are more open to the introduction of sin-bins, while fans aged 35-54 (35% vs. 48%) are less enthusiastic. Over-55s are in line with the average (44% vs. 42%). 

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