Question Number: 20537

Mechanics 11/17/2008

RE: youth soccer Under 17

r. allen of vancouver, british columbia canada asks...

recently on holiday in austria saw a youth game being played i saw a referee show a blue card to a player who had to leave the field of play the player was allowed to return after about 10 minutes i dont know if his team had to play short for time or not perhaps you could explain this situation there was also yellow cards issued and the player stayed on the field of play i use to be a fifa referee for canada many years ago and i found this situation very interesting i could not ask as my german is not so good and we were leaving to go back to the river cruise

Answer provided by Referee Debbie Hoelscher

The only thing I can imagine is that this may have been a futsal game? or perhaps a youth rule where a blue card is used for 'cool down' purposes, much like in indoor soccer, prior to sending them off the match. These are just guesses, as there is nothing in the FIFA LOTG which address or defines the use of a blue card in soccer.