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Football (Soccer) vocabulary · Referees, VAR & Discipline

Booking

Meaning in football (soccer), with examples

/ˈbʊkɪŋ/nounCommon term

In football (soccer), booking means: A caution shown with a yellow card, which the referee writes down in a notebook; to be booked means to receive a yellow card.

In Turkish: sarı kart, kart görme

How it is used

Mainly British. A player picks up a booking or is booked for dissent, diving or a late tackle. Commentators say "that's his fifth booking of the season, so he'll miss the next game".

Example sentences

  1. That's a booking for time-wasting; the referee had warned him twice.

  2. One more booking and he'll be suspended for the derby.

Common collocations

  • pick up a booking
  • early booking
  • booking for dissent
  • avoid a booking
  • yellow cardA card the referee shows to caution a player for offences such as reckless tackles, time-wasting or dissent; a second one in the same match means a red card.
  • suspensionA ban that stops a player from playing in one or more matches, usually after a red card or after collecting too many yellow cards.
  • refereeThe official in charge of a match who applies the rules, blows the whistle, gives fouls and shows yellow and red cards.
  • foulAn unfair or illegal action against an opponent, such as tripping, pushing or holding, for which the referee gives a free kick or a penalty.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Referees, VAR & Discipline

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