A new ‘blue card’ will be introduced as part of football’s 10-minute sin bin tests.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) will publish the detailed protocols on Friday as football tries to curb abuse of referees and cynical fouls.
Blue cards will form part of the sin-binning test and aim to offer greater protection to referees, and could be trialled by the Football Association (FA) at next year’s men’s and women’s FA Cups.
The Athlete he understands, however, that they will not be coming for next season’s Premier League.
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What do you think about football introducing blue cards and sin bins?
Sin bins for dissent are already in place across amateur and youth football in England and Wales, but referees use yellow cards rather than blue cards. The IFAB first agreed in November to try it higher up the football pyramid.
The IFAB has given the go-ahead for testing at higher levels of the game at its next annual general meeting in Loch Lomond, Scotland, on March 2.
Other items on the agenda include trials for “cooling off periods” after a spat between players, punishing goalkeepers who waste time by awarding a corner and allowing only the captain of a team to approach the referee.
The IFAB consists of the four UK confederations, who each have one vote, and FIFA, who have four.
Any decision requires at least six votes to pass.
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On Thursday, FIFA reiterated that while the issue would be discussed at the IFAB General Assembly in March, there were no immediate plans to introduce it to elite football.
“FIFA wishes to clarify that reports of the so-called ‘blue card’ among football’s elite are incorrect and premature,” football’s international governing body said in a statement.
“Any such testing, if implemented, should be limited to testing in a responsible manner at lower levels, a position FIFA intends to reiterate when this agenda item is discussed at the IFAB General Assembly on March 2.”
Chiellini’s foul on Saka has been used as an example of tactical fouls (LAURENCE GRIFFITHS/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Sin bins – how do they work in grassroots football?
By Adam Leventhal
The FA introduced sin bins as punishment for dissent at all levels of grassroots football in the 2019-20 season, after piloting them in 31 leagues over the previous two terms. According to FA figures, these trials led to a 38 per cent reduction in dissent across all leagues, with 72 per cent of players, 77 per cent of managers and 84 per cent of referees wanting to continue change.
How does it all work?
Sin bins are indicated by the referee showing a yellow card and pointing with both hands to the side.
In a 90-minute game, players guilty of dissent were suspended for 10 minutes — and for eight minutes in shorter games.
There is no natural sin bin. the player must either go to his team’s technical area, or leave the field and watch from the touchline with other non-playing personnel.
Just like a player who has left the field for treatment of an injury, a player may be waved back onto the field of play by the referee during the game.
A second suspension in a match results in the offending player being suspended for a further 10 minutes, after which he may not re-enter the match, but may be substituted if the team has substitutions.
The FA’s basic guide to sin bins states that goalkeepers are covered by the same law as other players and can be sin binned. The guide says: “Like when a goalkeeper is sent off, any other player must enter the goal, but the team must remain with 10 players. After the return, if during play, the goalkeeper may become an offside player and then return to the goalkeeper’s position at the next stoppage of play.’
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Blue card scheme: Did sin bins work in trials? Would they make it at the top level?
(Oli Scarff/AFP via Getty Images)
