Emiliano “Dibu” Martínez avoided being sent off after receiving two yellow cards because the second yellow card

‘Dibu’ Martinez was not sent off by the referee despite being penalized with a yellow card in the first half and a second during the penalty shootout. ‘Dibu’ Martinez was the main protagonist of Aston Villa’s qualification to the semi-finals of the Conference League after saving two penalties against Lille in the final penalty shootout of a match that ended 2-1 in favour of the French. The Argentine goalkeeper was shown a second yellow card in the penalty shootout for his gestures to the stands, but was not sent off by referee Ivan Kruzliak even though he had already seen another yellow card in the 39th minute of the match.

Referee Ivan Kruzliak was not wrong not to send off ‘Dibu’ Martinez for a double yellow card, as he applied a little-known rule in football, rule No. 10 of the 2023/2024 game regulations published by the International Board (IFAB). However, UEFA’s disciplinary board is likely to determine whether Martinez will be suspended for the first leg of their semi-final against Olympiakos on Thursday, May 2.

Clarity is being sought about the complex situation and whether he faces further punishment, due to the unusual circumstances of his two bookings which took the number of yellows Martinez has received in this season’s tournament to three. Three accumulated bookings would usually result in a one-match ban for the following game and both separate cautions for Martinez will be reported to the appropriate authorities.

One factor that will give Villa hope is that yellow cards expire after the quarter-finals and are not carried forward into the semi-finals, but UEFA is looking into the matter. The official was simply following the laws of the game, with IFAB rule 10.3 stipulating that bookings are not carried through to penalties. The rule states: “Yellow cards and warnings from the game are not carried forward into penalties but a player who was shown a red card during the game cannot take part. Players, substitutes, substituted players, and team officials can get a red or yellow card during penalties.” If Martinez had been sent off during the shoot-out, another player who finished the match would have had to act as the goalkeeper.