White Card In Football (Explained): What Is It And What Does It Mean? | OneFootball

As the seasons roll by football has become an ever-changing landscape recently with new rules and regulations for referees to implement into proceedings.

However, you may have never heard about the "white card", the yellow and red cards long-lost sibling ready to cause a stir in the beautiful game. On January 21st, the white card was introduced in the Portuguese Women's Cup quarter-final match between Benfica and Sporting Lisbon for the first time ever in a professional setting. The introduction of the card wrote a new chapter in the history of the game in Portugal. Nevertheless, we are exploring when, if ever, the white card will be rolled out into football around the globe.

This article has been generated based on substantiated reporting, coupled with research into the white card, the history behind its introduction and other card ideas that have been thrown about over the years to add to the ever-growing lists of rules and regulations. Trust us, there is plenty to get through, so sit back relax and join us on this weird and wonderful journey as we delve deeper into the meaning behind the elusive white card.

What is a white card?

The white card is used to recognise fair play in football and essentially holds no real benefits or detriments to the players, coaches or staff who are shown it by the referee.

Refs can show the white card to players on either team, coaches, managers and even medical staff if they have performed something in good faith.

Right now, the white card has only been introduced in Portugal as part of the country's National Plan for Ethics in Sport (PNED), a scheme aimed at improving positive acts in football and sports.

And it's starting to gain even more traction too. The Portuguese Football Federation (PFF) has given the thumbs up to the white card being rolled out into domestic football tournaments including the Liga Portugal.

Nevertheless, FIFA has been less forward-thinking than its Portuguese counterparts and has yet to approve the white card, meaning it is currently restricted to Portugal.

Why was a white card used?

As we have previously mentioned above, the white card was first shown in the Portuguese Women's Cup quarter-final match between Benfica and Sporting Lisbon on 21 January 2023.

But why was it used? Well, someone off the pitch fell unwell during the fixture, leaving medical staff from both teams to rush to the poorly individual's help.

The referee then proceeded to whip out the white card in celebration of both sides coming together in this utter act of kindness and good faith, leaving fans at the Estadio da Luz in awe.

So much so, that the fans in attendance chose to give the referee and medical staff a standing ovation, a solid start for the white card if it was ever to be rolled out permanently.

If this first showing is anything to go by, it looks like the white card would be well received by fans on a match day. However, it may take some more convincing by PFF to get the white card as a recognised tool for referees around the world.

White card history

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Former UEFA president Michel Platini was the first man to moot the idea of the white card being introduced into the professional game, however, his initial idea had a different meaning to how the card is used today.

The Frenchman wanted the white card to be used as punishment for players who had shown the referees any form of dissent, something officials have been cracking down on recently.

Platini's plan was to use the white card as a form of sin bin for players, and if they were to receive one, they would have to spend 10 minutes on the sidelines.

Any fans of rugby will be aware that the sin bin rule is an effective tool for referees to use, alas, Platini's great plan for the white card never came into effect.

However, as it's been highlighted in the game of rugby, a sin bin method for players on the pitch could be a useful method to combat abuse or even contentious fouls that wouldn't exactly warrant a red card.

Other cards

Now, you might be thinking that the white card has been the only other card trailed alongside the red and yellow card, however, you would be wrong.

There is an ugly step-sister in the card family that has been shown in Italy and she bares a completely different colour altogether.

This similar idea was trialled in Serie B, Italy's second top-flight division, although, a green card was shown instead of a white card for virtuous acts on the pitch.

In October 2016, Vicenza’s Cristian Galano was rewarded a green card for admitting that an opposition defender had not touched the ball after the referee, Marco Mainardi, had initially given a corner.

The green card has also taken on a different meaning to the one mentioned above and has been used in the CONIFA World Cup, which sees non-FIFA affiliated nations take each other on.

However, in this case, the green card took on a different meaning and was shown to players as an in-the-middle card between the red and yellow and saw players receive a set amount of time on the sidelines, much like Platini's initial vision for the white card.

It doesn't look like fans will be seeing the white card in action anytime soon unless you are a Liga Portugal fan or watch the game there.

This comes down to organisations like FIFA and UEFA who pretty much control everything that goes on in football, not approving it to be used for the masses.

Nevertheless, with the white card getting the green light from the Portuguese Football Federation it looks like the country will be used as somewhat of a guinea pig for the initiative.

In turn, this could lead to leagues in England, France, Germany and Italy adopting the white card domestically before it's approved by UEFA or FIFA.

However, as we've seen many times in the past, the two top governing bodies are usually the first to trial any significant changes in football.

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We've all become pretty normalised to rules and regulations being chopped and changed in football recently with the introduction of VAR (Video Assistant Referee) and other bizarre changes.

So is the white card a good or bad idea to add to the already crazy mix? In theory, it's a nice way to highlight good sportsmanship within the game but shouldn't that just be something practiced anyway?

Is there really a need for an extra card to be shown to confirm a player, manager or member of staff has performed a good-willed gesture on the pitch?

With the new white card ruling that has been displayed in Portugal, it does still seem to be in its early stages but whether it will be a hit with fans on a bigger scale or not remains to be seen.

Despite his flaws, Platini's initial idea for the white card seems like something that would actually benefit the game slightly more and could provide refs with an easier route to go down rather than a dubious red card.

It would be hard to see top teams from around Europe being happy to introduce a card into the game that realistically wasn't going to benefit them in any way.

This is where a governing body like UEFA could help out, by incorporating coefficient points or something similar into the mix when concerning the white card. Although, this may be slightly far-fetched.

For now, it looks like fans of the traditional red and yellow cards can sit easy and unless there are any massive changes in the next few years, we won't be seeing the white card on the regular anytime soon.