Blue Card

[Sagy]

Great question because you cannot play without a goalkeeper (Law 3 of the Laws of the Game(.

The GK gets outs, another player gets out and sub GK would get in. At the end of 10 minutes the field player gets in and GK can be changed back.

But this is another clue why this idea has more cons than pros.
You already have yellow and reds. Just use it.
After the blue they will ask for a pink for a 30 min ban? And a grey for just 5?

If implemented, they could also do it “Ice Hockey style” (a field player sits the penalty time for the GK while the team is a player down).

We also need to note that under this proposal, it will be very hard for a GK to get a BC. If a GK commits a “cynical, tactical foul” then they are likely to already be subject to a RC. I’m sure that in theory it can happen, but it’s very unlikely. This comment is NOT a reason for IFAB to not explicitly state how such cases are to be handled.

[Sagy]

Not directly on point, but can provide some insights are two upcoming rule changes in the MLS

1) “The off-field treatment rule requires any player who remains down with a suspected injury for at least 15 seconds to be removed from the field by a medical crew and receive treatment on the sideline for a minimum of two minutes. Exceptions to the two-minute requirement will be made when the injuries come from fouls that earn yellow or red cards.”

2) “The timed substitution rule will require players to exit the playing field within 10 seconds when being removed from the game. If they fail to leave the field in the allotted time, their replacement will have to wait an additional minute and enter at the next stoppage. (The rule does not apply for goalkeepers or injury subs.)”

Both of these bring up the same type of issues that mentioned by the anti-BC group. This season in the MLS we will be able to see which are theoretical concerns and which are real.

Important to note that those have been tested in MLS Next Pro league and the results are eye opening

1) “Over a season and a half of trials … the league reported that stoppages dropped from an average of six per match to 1.22.” That’s 80% decrease
2) “During the 2023 season, only 10 substitutions received the one-minute penalty out of more than 3,200 substitutions, according to the league.” That’s 0.3%

The following is an “if statement”, not a prediction of the future:
If the numbers hold, it means that even much lesser penalties (1 and 2 min) lead to a drastic change in behavior. The penalty itself is rarely enforced, what happens is that players rarely commit the infractions.