BERLIN, July 4: Players are likely to be suspended from playing in future World Cups after receiving three yellow cards in a round and not two as happens now, FIFA president Sepp Blatter said on Tuesday.

Blatter, speaking to journalists at FIFA's daily briefing, said: “In a competition like the World Cup it should perhaps be three yellow cards in the first round and three in the second.

This is a wise suggestion and we will take it up.”

He said there would be no change to the current rules in matches with two yellow cards still leading to a sending-off.

There is no intention to change that, he said.

But he added: “In some national leagues, players are suspended after three, four or five matches and three yellow cards in the World Cup makes sense.

“A player can go into the semi-finals now with one yellow card, sometimes for bad luck, and get a second one then miss the World Cup final.

“On a larger scale, the referees should also be more consistent with yellow cards. It is something we must look at.”

A record number of 27 red cards have so far been shown in the finals, but Blatter said that after some problems in the middle of the competition, the refereeing had returned to the high standard seen at the start of the tournament.

In the last World Cup, Germany captain Michael Ballack missed the final because of a second yellow card. Germany went on to lose the match 2-0 to Brazil in Yokohoma in Japan.

Meanwhile, Blatter said he regretted criticising Russian referee Valentin Ivanov for his handling of the heated second-round World Cup match between Portugal and the Netherlands.

“I would just like to say that I regret what has happened,” he said.

“I regret what I said about his actions in the match between Portugal and the Netherlands.”

Ivanov set a World Cup finals record on June 25 by sending off four players and handing out eight additional yellow cards. Both the Portuguese and the Dutch finished the match, which Portugal won 1-0, with nine men.

Blatter was quoted on Portuguese television after the clash saying that Ivanov should have yellow-carded himself for his poor refereeing performance.

“I consider that today the referee was not at the same level as the participants, the players. There could have been a yellow card for the referee,” Blatter said at the time.

Ivanov was also criticised by Dutch coach Marco van Basten and several players for being over zealous in handing out cards.

Three days after the game, Ivanov was dropped for the remainder of the tournament.—Reuters