Explaining Yellow and Red Cards in Football

Yellow card is a warning from a referee for dangerous tackles, unsporting behaviour, or repeated rule-breaking.

Red card means immediate ejection from the field, forcing the player's team to play with one fewer player.

Two yellow cards in the same game automatically convert to a red card.

FIFA introduced the yellow and red card system to standardise penalty rules worldwide, first used in the 1970 FIFA World Cup.

British referee Ken Aston got the idea from traffic signals: yellow for 'be careful' and red for 'stop or get out of the game'.