What is Challenge Card in Football? How Managers Can Use This for VAR Review?

Managers can now challenge the referee's decision while being on the sidelines, thanks to the Football Challenge Card, which has revolutionised the sport. There are many occasions when coaches and players have raised concerns over the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, which led the football governing body to introduce the new system, and it's now being tested in junior and non-elite competitions. Instead of depending on the VAR officials in the studio, team management can request a review of a critical refereeing call by using the Football Challenge Card, also known as the Purple Card.

Mechanism of Managerial VAR Challenge

The most popular trial arrangements provide each team a certain number of chances, typically one or two, to ask for a review during a game. The manager can initiate the VAR challenge by simply making a clear hand gesture (like spinning a finger in the air) or by presenting the fourth official a physical card, the Purple Card.

The challenge card can only be used to review incidents that fall within the scope of VAR’s current remit: goals and the offences leading up to them, penalty decisions, direct red cards, and cases of mistaken identity. The team keeps the Challenge Card and can use it again later if the referee's decision is overturned. If one challenge is unsuccessful (the referee's decision remains in effect), the card is forfeited for the rest of the game.

Ahead of the 2025-26 campaign, Pierluigi Collina, who is now the chairman of FIFA's Referees Commission, picked the third division of Italian football, Serie C, to pilot the new FVS system. Speaking about the new system, he said, “FVS is a tool to support referees in competitions with fewer resources and cameras. It should not be seen as VAR or as a modified version of it, as it does not include video match officials monitoring every incident.”

Football Challenge Card Under Trial FIFA U20 World Cup 2025

The Football Challenge card has already been used to bring in Football Video Support (FVS) at the FIFA U20 World Cup. Managers are permitted two challenges each game, as was the case in the Blue Stars FIFA Youth Cup and the women's U20 World Cup in Colombia. There have been two instances where the card has been used in the tournament.

The Purple Card was used for the first time in Morocco's 2-0 win over Spain. The referee went to the pitchside monitor to assess the situation with VAR when Morocco's head coach, Mohamed Ouahbi, raised a purple card in the 77th minute after a Spanish player fell in the box.

The Football Challenge Card was again used by Morocco against France in the semi-final. A Moroccan player went down inside the France box with 18 minutes remaining. Referee Gustavo Tejera brushed aside protests a moment later, but Morocco manager Ouahbi presented a purple "review request card" because he believed the official had mistakenly denied a penalty.