The Gold Cup red card conundrum

July 4 – Here’s a curious twist that’ll have you scratching your head: get sent off in the Concacaf Gold Cup as a player from Canada, the United States, or Mexico, and you won’t be cooling your heels during the World Cup. Instead, you’ll be benched for your country’s next friendly.

It’s a bureaucratic dance that would make even Fred Astaire dizzy. After what Concacaf diplomatically calls “extensive discussions” with football’s governing body (FIFA), they’ve sorted out a rather peculiar disciplinary loophole.

Any 2025 Gold Cup suspension hanging over the heads of players from the three World Cup co-hosts gets served during their next international friendly – not when the big show kicks off in 2026.

The whole mess came to light when Jacob Shaffelburg picked up his marching orders after a second yellow card in Canada’s dramatic penalty shootout defeat to Guatemala. Picture this: you’re a World Cup host nation, so you get a free pass to the tournament without the usual qualifying grind. But when one of your star players gets his name in the referee’s book at the wrong moment, where exactly does he serve his time?

Enter FIFA’s disciplinary code Article 69.3 – a piece of legislation that sounds like it was drafted by committee and probably was. The rule states that if you’re hosting the World Cup and don’t need to qualify, any match suspension gets shifted to your next friendly encounter. It’s football bureaucracy at its finest.

Shaffelburg will miss Canada’s next exhibition match but will be available for Jesse Marsch’s World Cup plans, should player and coach still be in the picture come June of next year. The same applies to any Mexican or American player who loses their cool in the Gold Cup final.

It’s the kind of administrative quirk that reminds you why football politics can be just as entertaining as the game itself. FIFA finds a way, as they always do – even when nobody asked them to.

Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1751624374labto1751624374ofdlr1751624374owedi1751624374sni@o1751624374fni1751624374