Euro 2020 is finally upon us after a year-long delay, with the tournament kicking off on Friday June 11.
Turkey will take on Italy in Rome in the tournament opener and players and fans will be keen to know how close anyone who gets booked is to a suspension for future games in the tournament.
Traditionally too many yellow cards accrued means a one-game suspension. Domestic leagues across Europe adopt a five yellows rule, with the Premier League essentially resetting the punishments after a certain number of games have been played.
La Liga on the other hand don't reset their suspensions, which saw Frenkie De Jong pick up a suspension for Barcelona after a fifth yellow card in his 34th appearance of the season.
With 24 teams all guaranteed to play at least three games in the group stages, UEFA have revealed what it would take for a player to pick up a suspension for accruing too many yellow cards during the tournament.
According to UEFA, article 52, a player is suspended for the next match after picking up two yellow cards in separate games. So if a player were to be booked in both the first and second group stage game, he would be unavailable for the final group game.
The top two teams from each group will qualify for the round of 16, with the four best third placed teams also qualifying. UEFA also clarify that picking up four bookings in four separate games will result in a second suspension for players.
This means a booking in the opening two games followed by a booking in the round of 16 and quarter-finals would see you miss the semi-final.
The rules for the tournament do however state that yellow cards have a reset button also, just like the Premier League. After completion of the quarter-final round, single cautions will be wiped from the record meaning you can't pick up a suspension for the final for a yellow card in the semi-final.
This is intentionally done by the tournament organisers after several top stars missed finals in the past due to picking up yellow cards in the last four.
Michael Ballack famously missed the 2002 World Cup final following a yellow card in the semi-final against South Korea, but UEFA have been hit more hard in the Champions League finals in the past.
The likes of Dani Alves, Xabi Alonso, Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, Pavel Nedved, John Terry and David Alaba have all been forced to sit out on different occasions due to yellow card suspensions, which obviously takes away from the big spectacle when superstars are missing.
All yellow cards and suspensions will expire upon the completion of the tournament.
If a player is going to pick up yellow cards, it would be better for them to do so earlier in the tournament to avoid missing a big knockout tie for their nation.
