FIFA increases referee protection with immediate red card bans

FIFA yesterday moved to protect the authority of referees by announcing that any player who is sent off will have to serve an immediate one-match ban with no right of appeal.

The ruling, announced by FIFA president Sepp Blatter, will be enforced in every league in world. Red-carded players will miss the next match of the competition in which they were sent off, and only be allowed to appeal against extra suspensions imposed above the one-game ban or to claim a case of mistaken identity.

The move will cause major changes in disciplinary procedures in English football, where dismissed players have had 14 days before they have to serve a suspension, and where some have escaped bans by using video evidence.

FIFA will be contacting all 204 national associations over the next few days to inform them of the decision and the new ruling is expected to come into force next month.

The ruling is aimed at protecting match officials after several cases in which referees’ decisions have been undermined.

It is understood that Alan Shearer’s successful appeal against a red card for elbowing Charlton’s Jon Fortune last December was one of the cases which caused a FIFA ethink. After referee Andy D’Urso reviewed the incident, all punishment was rescinded, but under the new rules Shearer would have had to serve at least a one-match ban.

Blatter told a news conference in Zurich: “A referee’s decision has no space for speculation. A player expelled by the referee has to serve a one-match suspension immediately. If people start casting doubt on the referee they start casting doubt on football.

“If a player commits a foul and is sent off then no scientific evidence, whether cameras or other, shall change this decision,” said Blatter.

The English FA said they will have to wait for the FIFA notification and study the new ruling in detail before making any comment.