Fifa plans new yellow card amnesty for expanded 48-team World Cup

Fifa is poised to introduce a new yellow card amnesty at the expanded World Cup to prevent players from missing crucial knockout matches.

World football’s governing body intends to wipe all bookings at the end of the group stage, in addition to the existing reset after the quarter-finals.

The proposed rule change addresses concerns that the newly expanded 48-team tournament artificially increases the likelihood of suspensions.

Under the previous 32-team format, nations played five matches to reach the last eight, with any two cautions resulting in a strict one-game ban.

Reducing the suspension jeopardy

The upcoming global showpiece introduces an additional round of 32, meaning individuals would face six fixtures before the traditional quarter-final wipe.

Tournament organisers fear this prolonged sequence leaves competitors walking a disciplinary tightrope for an unreasonable duration.

Without amending the regulations, several elite athletes could unfairly miss out on featuring in a prestigious semi-final clash.

Council to debate disciplinary tweaks

The formal discussion regarding these structural adjustments will take place when the governing council convenes in Vancouver on Tuesday.

While the fundamental threshold of two bookings for a suspension remains untouched, the dual amnesties create smaller, manageable windows to accumulate cards.

Competitors will now only trigger a ban if they are cautioned twice in their three group games, or twice across the three subsequent knockout ties.