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The Italian Serie B is all set to roll out a new and interesting concept of flashing ‘green card’ at players to encourage good sportsmanship and get rid of cheating, according to Mirror. The introduction of the new 'green card' will be used by referees to signal if the player is worthy of praise rather than punishment for his deeds.
The implementation of this new innovative scheme is set to launch this weekend which will award the player for a number of different deeds, but are not limited to conspicuous acts of sportsmanship and other acts of virtue on the football pitch. The idea behind the ‘green card’ is not necessarily for disciplinary purposes on the pitch but to offer a positive incentive to the player that will encourage him to treat the game with a greater level of respect.
The Italian youth leagues were the first to adopt this new rule and the Italian referees believe it will have a positive effect on the senior game as well. When the players receive the green card, the names will be noted and a list of the "most correct" players will be compiled at the end of the season. The players are worthy of receiving the card only if he kicks the ball out of play when an opponent is down injured or if they assist the referee in correcting the error, when he clearly gets it incorrect.
The green card could be issued for diving?
But much to everyone’s surprise, green cards can also be awarded for diving - provided the player gets up and admits that he made an error by going to ground too easily.
The introduction of this new scheme will almost certainly make a big step in cleaning up the game or rather make the game a better place. Italian football has always been about tactical play and aggression. With this new idea, the Italian football bosses are making a great effort to revolutionalise football. However, the risk of diving to win a penalty kick (yellow card) remains the only deterrent to players actively attempting to con the referee.
There have been a few incidents in the past where the green card could have been used in the game. West Ham forward Paulo Di Canio caught a cross and had a glorious opportunity to score into an empty net, but he chose to allow Everton keeper Paul Gerrard to receive treatment.
Another instance was Robbie Fowler’s decision to overturn a penalty awarded to him when Arsenal keeper David Seaman challenged the striker in the box. There was no contact by the keeper and Fowler famously tried to overturn the decision, but the referee chose to ignore it and went on to award the penalty.
