UEFA President Platini Wants to Introduce ‘White Card’ in Football: Reports

UEFA President Michel Platini wants to add the white card to the existing yellow and red ones as punishment for unsporting behavior on the pitch.

MOSCOW, December 28 (Sputnik) – Michel Platini, the incumbent UEFA president, has restated his idea to introduce the so-called “white card” and has proposed to make offside rules more understandable, during the Dubai International Sports Conference, Goal.com reports.

Michel Platini views the hypothetic “white card” as a specific means to reproach football players for unsporting behavior. “Play-acting, criticism on the field, these are not accepted by people who love the game… This white card would send off a player for a few minutes, maybe five or 10. This would be a way to promote the game among fans who don't want to see this,” he explained as quoted by AFP.

Currently, football rules observe the yellow card for warning and the red cards for sending a player off the pitch.

The Frenchman added that viewers would benefit from clearer football regulations, referring to offside rules in particular. "There are different types of offside rules. It is difficult to find common and ethical standards to simplify the offside rule. We need to allow people who are in front of the TV to understand offside, too,” he said, according to Goal.com.

Back in October, Michel Platini first proposed to introduce the white card and increase the number of substitutions from three to five, but FIFA President Joseph "Sepp" Blatter showed no enthusiasm about it.

Michel Platini is a renowned French playmaker of 1970s-80s who won the prestigious Golden Ball award three times and led the national team to the 1984 European championship.