Mesut Ozil says the new blue card coming to football will be bad news for one club in particular

Former Arsenal star Mesut Ozil has made a prediction for which team could be hugely affected by the introduction of blue cards in football.

On Thursday, it emerged that football's lawmakers IFAB had signed off on blue cards.

Yellow and red cards have of course been a pivotal part of the game since the 1970 World Cup.

But the news represents the biggest refereeing change in decades and will see blue cards handed out as part of a trial.

Players guilty of cynical fouls to stop promising attacks or dissent towards match officials will be shown a blue card and therefore required to serve a 10-minute sin-bin like in rugby.

The FA Cup has been mentioned as a potential testing ground, though lower-tier competitions are expected to be most involved in the scheme at first before being rolled out all across the world if the trial is successful.

But former Germany international Ozil, who retired from football last year, has some thoughts on which team might struggle going forward.

He aimed a dig at Atletico Madrid, joking they will be missing five players with blue cards in play.

Image: Getty

Taking to X, he wrote: "So Atletico Madrid will only play with 6 players then?"

When starring for Real, Ozil came up against Atletico on a number of occasions.

Los Rojiblancos have developed a reputation for tactical fouling and gamesmanship.

The new protocol stipulates that fouls to thwart counter attacks will receive a heavier punishment than yellow cards.

A prime example would be Giorgio Chiellini pulling back Bukayo Saka in the Euro 2020 final and happily taking a yellow card.

Image: Getty

Two blue cards in a game will result in a red card and subsequent dismissal and the same will apply if a player is shown a blue card and then booked for a different offence.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has gone on record to say he is not in favour of a sin-bin system but it appears as though it is very much on the horizon.