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The Royal Netherlands Football Association (KNVB), in an attempt at further reducing unsporting behavior by players on the field of play, has launched a drive to deter players from making gestures to the referee to give opponents bookings.

The KNVB has ordered its referees to show a yellow card immediately to any player who is asking for a yellow card for his opponent.

This condemnable behavior is not limited to the confinements of the Dutch League, however.

A growing number of players in every major professional league as well as in international competitions such as the World Cup have, in recent years, tried to give their team an edge by attempting to influence Referees into cautioning or ejecting opponents for the smallest of fouls.

The problem is getting worse every year as even players in the youngest levels of Youth Soccer, in an attempt to emulate their idols, are now displaying the same regrettable attitude.

Unfortunately, no one, including most coaches and most Referees, realize that asking the Referee to card an opponent IS , indeed, a form of unsporting behavior. After all, nothing in the Laws Of The Game specifically mentions this behavior as a cautionable offense. And so, this problem has been allowed to grow and has, in my view, become a cancer.

It is, however, a cancer that is easily curable. To do something against this bad habit, the KNVB has decided to sanction this behavior with a yellow card. I think that the Dutch League should be applauded for its efforts but it is also high time that FIFA included, in the same manner that it included offensive, insulting and abusive language as a sending-off offense, asking to card an opponent as a cautionable offense.

Discussion about this issue was kindled by former Republic of Korea and now PSV Eindhoven coach Guus Hiddink, who publicly admonished his own player Arjen Robben for such conduct.  "A 19-year-old player is allowed to make mistakes, but he has to leave all those gestures behind." Hiddink said.

My hat off to Coach Hiddink for taking the lead and setting the standards.

From a Referee standpoint, I believe that giving a yellow card to a player after the opponent asks for it ultimately undermines a Referee's credibility and, worse, could give a false perception of favoritism. Not that a Referee should automatically go exactly the other way, however. What if the offending player does, in fact, deserve a yellow or red card?

Referees in the Dutch League and, should FIFA decide to make asking for an opponent to be carded a cautionable offense, in general will need to apply  a great deal of common sense when dealing with this type of situations. 

Andre Colomas is a United Soccer Federation (USSF) and  Federation Tahitienne de Football (FTF) Referee. He has been a Referee since 1997 and has officiated in hundreds of matches at all levels, including semi-professional league games. These are his personal opinions.