FIFA introduce immediate one-match ban for red cards
Mike Collett
FIFA enforced a major rule change on the game on Tuesday when it announced that any player sent off must serve an immediate one-match suspension in the same competition with no right of appeal.
FIFA will be contacting each of their 204 member associations immediately and the new rule is expected to come into effect next month, possibly as soon as October 1. It is a worldwide ruling with no exceptions.
The only way the player can escape an automatic one-match ban is if the referee later admits a case of mistaken identity or concedes he made the wrong decision. The immediate ban applies for both a straight red card or a dismissal for two bookings.
The one-match ban will also have no impact on any subsequent ban applied for the offence. Each domestic association, however, can apply their own ruling in their own way by, for example, reducing a current three-match ban for a professional foul to a two-match ban.
Appeals can still continue as before, but only after the initial one-match ban has been served.
FIFA's executive committee have acted swiftly following a case in the Swiss League when Grasshoppers goalkeeper Fabrice Borer was sent off after an incident with Basel striker Herve Tum.
Although he was due to serve an immediate ban according to the rules in Switzerland, the referee's decision was subsequently annulled by the sole disciplinary commissioner of the Swiss League and Borer played in the next match.
FIFA president Sepp Blatter said: "From now on any player who is sent off will automatically miss the next match in the same competition.
"The only exception is if the referee admits a case of mistaken identity or says he made the wrong decision or an honest mistake.
"We have to protect the authority of the referee which is the foundation stone of the game. If people start casting doubts on the referee they start casting doubts on football."
"The decision has no space for speculation. The player has to serve his one-match suspension immediately unless the wrong player has been sent off."
"If a player commits a foul and is sent off, no scientific, whether cameras or other, shall change this decision."
FIFA's decision is not a law change -- the laws of the game can only be changed by the annual meeting of the International Board -- but they represent a fundamental change to FIFA's rules.
DIFFERENT RULES
Different rules have always applied in different countries.
In England suspensions have usually started two or three weeks after an offence and often after a due process of appeal.
In Italy, players have traditionally missed the next match in the same competition.
FIFA spokesman Markus Siegler confirmed: "The suspension will only apply in the same competition as the one in which the offence took place."
"If he is sent off in the Champions League he will not miss the next domestic league game -- but there will be no exceptions to this rule."
There have been two examples in England within the last year which would have fallen under the new rules.
In December 2001, former England captain Alan Shearer was sent off by referee Andy D'Urso for elbowing Charlton Athletic's Jon Fortune in the face. Shearer appealed and served no punishment after video evidence was studied.
Under the new ruling, he would have served an immediate ban.
In January 2002, Chelsea striker Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was sent off by referee Mark Halsey in a League Cup semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur
The Dutchman served no ban because Halsey admitted he should have sent off Mario Melchiot for the offence instead and the red card was rescinded.
Under the new rules, Hasselbaink would not serve an automatic ban because of the element of mistaken identity.
FIFA's ruling overshadowed the news that the 10-man Referees' Committee, which appointed the officials at the World Cup finals, is to be re-constituted under the chairmanship of Angel Maria Villar Llona of Spain.
He threatened to resign from the committee after the refereeing controversy at the South Korea-Spain match in the World Cup.
