A test at a cup match

Uruguay's football association (AUF) trialled digital yellow and red cards on 15 October 2026, when referee Eduardo Varela used a device resembling a smartphone instead of plastic cards in a Copa AUF Uruguay tie between Nacional and Rentistas. Nacional won the match 3-0. The 39-year-old referee pressed one of two buttons, yellow or red, and the screen lit up in the matching colour. He could then select the booked or dismissed player from a list of squad members and their shirt numbers. The device was developed by a Uruguayan company in cooperation with the national football federation.

Juan Pablo Plada of Rentistas received the first digital yellow card after twelve minutes. Late in the match Nahuel Gelos of Nacional was sent off for a heavy challenge with a stretched leg, and the digital red card was shown for him. On the device's screen the red colour looked rather dark, which made it difficult to recognise.

Automatic logging of match events

The tablet records more than cards. Substitutions, goals and penalties are also captured, so the referee no longer needs to note events on paper and transfer them into a match report after the final whistle. The data is sent to the AUF's COMET platform, and the device does not need Wi-Fi at the ground. The AUF has said the data could later be passed on to media, and press representatives would receive the information directly from the tablet.

Visibility problems

An earlier trial was planned for 30 September at Defensor Sporting against Plaza Colonia, but it was abandoned because afternoon sunlight made the display hard to read. Marcelo de León, head of the referee department at the AUF, said the association had run several tests and encountered problems with lighting. During the 15 October match, spectators, players and television viewers had difficulty seeing from a distance which card was being shown. Critics said the virtual card was poorly visible from far away.

Pilot status and the people behind it

The system remains in a testing phase and has not been officially adopted by Uruguayan referees. Mauro Sacco, director of REFe, the company behind the device, said in an interview with El Espectador Deportes on 16 October that the project still had room for improvement. The idea came more than three years ago, when Sacco and his colleague Diego de la Peña, also a company director, watched a match in the rain and asked how paper notes could be replaced. If the visibility problem is solved, the system could later be introduced in Uruguay's top divisions.