This is a new one
The ConIFA cup has captured the hearts of football fans around the country over the past fortnight. The tournament, held in England this year, features states, minorities, stateless peoples and regions unaffiliated with FIFA and is held every two years.
And it has been groundbreaking in more ways than one. For the first time ever, a referee brandished a green card during a ConIFA cup match.
The “intermediate disciplinary measure” was used twice during a match between Padania and Tuvalu.
If a green card is brandished, it means the player must leave the field immediately, but he can be replaced by a substitute if his team have any left. It’s effectively a half-way point between the yellow and red card, though surprisingly not orange.
Unlike a red card, a player who received a green card is not banned for his team’s following fixture.
The idea behind it is to clamp down on dissent. The tournament organiser, Paul Watson, said “We’d really like to clamp down on the dissent problem. Football has a problem with the lack of respect for referees.”
“That’s not to say that isn’t also the case in Conifa games – the players in our tournament still have those traits.
“But it would be nice that, instead of it being ignored and therefore in a way condoned, it shouldn’t necessarily cost someone their chance to play at this tournament, if they just lose their cool.”
He continued: “That’s not to say that isn’t also the case in Conifa games – the players in our tournament still have those traits.
“But it would be nice that, instead of it being ignored and therefore in a way condoned, it shouldn’t necessarily cost someone their chance to play at this tournament, if they just lose their cool.”
Jens Jockel, Conifa’s Asia president agreed, stating: “We have had some minor problems in the past, with some red cards at the end of a game…
“Mostly when teams realised they can’t keep up and find themselves losing heavily with ten minutes left.
“It’s a really good idea of how to sanction things that might not be worthy of a red card.
“More like personal mistakes – using swear words, disrespecting spectators and coaches and so on. It’s a perfect way to find something in between.”
