Footballers Can Receive Two Yellow Cards In One Match Without Being Red Carded, Here Is Why

Recent incidents in football have exposed a little-known rule which allows footballers to remain on the pitch during a game despite receiving two yellow cards in the game.

The football incident that brought this to the attention of most football enthusiasts was when Emiliano Martinez of Aston Villa was shown the yellow card twice in the Europa Conference League quarter-finals against Lille last week.

He received the first yellow in regulation time and received his second yellow card during the penalty shootout which his team won. Most spectators at the stadium were stunned that Martinez wasn’t sent off after the second yellow card.

On Sunday, April 21, the unpopular rule surfaced again when Andre Onana was given a yellow card in the 85th minute of the FA Cup semi-final clash against Coventry. He was also yellow-carded during the penalty shootout for confronting the referee.

Most football enthusiasts expected the Cameroon international to be red-carded for receiving two yellow cards in one match, but he wasn’t red-carded since one of the yellow cards was given during the penalty shootout, which Manchester United won.

After the game, Onana said, “Before the penalties, I knew that my first yellow card had been cancelled so I was aware of the rules. I had to make some provocation to some players and to use my tricks to win the game, so I’m happy for that.”

The aforementioned statement from Onana is based on FIFA’s IFAB rule 10.3 regarding penalty shootouts. According to this rule, yellow cards accumulated during regulation time are not considered during penalty shootouts in the same game.