j TEA M TALK

Ref comes to white decision

Claire Brine gives her take on a story catching the attention of War Cry reporters

FOOTBALL fans with their eye on the ball will know that, for the first time, a white card was issued during a women’s match in Portugal. As Sporting Lisbon took on Benfica in a cup game, referee Catarina Campos brandished the card after medics from both clubs stepped in to help a spectator who had fallen ill.

Though I know little about the game they call beautiful, the news about the introduction of a white card caught my attention. I wondered what its purpose was and what it meant for football.

Shown in recognition of fair play and good sportsmanship, the white card is a direct contrast to red and yellow cards, which highlight rule-breaking and bad behaviour.

According to the Daily Mail, Portugal introduced the card as part of a series of initiatives to try to ‘improve ethical value in the sport’. The move was adopted by the Portuguese Football Federation and currently isn’t being used in any other country. Time will tell if football bosses in the UK consider it a strategy worth bringing into play.

First World War victim honoured

A SALVATION Army church leader who was one of the first civilians to be killed in the UK during the First World War has been honoured with a plaque in Hartlepool.

The plaque will be displayed at the Heugh Battery Museum in the town, which commemorates the bombardment of Hartlepool by the German navy.

Adjutant William Avery, who led a Salvation Army church in Hartlepool, was killed on 16 December 1914 after being struck by shrapnel from an exploding shell that hit his home.

The plaque was presented to the museum by his grandson James Gilman.

James says that William had been disabled in his 20s on board a ship while working as a deep-sea fisherman in Cornwall, and one day bought a one-way rail ticket to London, where he signed himself up to be a Salvation Army officer. William worked for The Salvation Army with his wife, Julia, for 20 years before his death.

White cards are a contrast to red and yellow cards

Over the next months it will be interesting to see the impact of the white card on football, players and fans. Surely highlighting fair (and not just foul) play is bound to make a difference to those playing and watching it. Is it possible that, as the white card is used more and more, yellow and red cards could be needed less and less? Perhaps I’m overly optimistic, but I’d like to think that may be the case.

I also believe that the principle behind the white card could be worth applying to my own life. I’m highly skilled at noticing faults with the people around me – but how often do I Iook for, acknowledge and appreciate their good points? How might my own character be different if I chose to encourage others openly, more than criticise them?

Perhaps, as more and more referees in Portugal show the white card, I should make it my goal to do the same. Who knows what positive results await.