Football’s lawmakers are coming under pressure to scale back trials of blue cards and sin-bins when they meet this weekend.
Uefa has made clear to the International FA Board (Ifab) that it opposes any moves to introduce such measures into the game. The Times has also learnt that some Ifab members favour having trials of sin-bins for dissent only — and want to drop plans to extend it for cynical tactical fouls.
Ifab, which oversees the laws of the game, is holding its annual meeting at Loch Lomond this weekend where it will decide on the scope of pilot studies for next season.
● Martin Samuel: Sin-bins should only be used for dissent
This month it postponed the publication of protocols for rugby-style sin-bin trials, where a player would leave the pitch for ten minutes, following an outcry after it was revealed that referees would show a blue card for players who commit offences of dissent or cynical tactical fouls.
Advertisement
Sin-bin trials have been taking place in junior and amateur football in England and Wales for dissent, but with only yellow and red cards. The intention had been for these trials to be extended into professional football — the FA was set to consider them for the men’s and women’s FA Cup — but that now looks likely to be blocked, with trials remaining in the grassroots game.
A source close to Ifab said that it was likely there would be a heated debate over extending trials to cover cynical fouls.
“If a trial just focuses on dissent it is very clear,” the source said. “The debate will be over cynical fouls and blue cards.”
Ifab is made up of Fifa, which has four votes, and the four British associations, which have a vote each, with any proposals needing six votes to be approved. Uefa does not have a vote but has made its feelings clear via Ifab’s football advisory panel. Uefa’s president, Aleksander Ceferin, has also called sin-bins “the death of football”.
In November, Pierluigi Collina, Fifa’s referees chairman, said of sin-bin trials: “We are now talking of bringing it to a higher level, very probably professional or even high professional football.”
Advertisement
Ifab will also look at giving referees the power to stop matches for official “cooling-off periods” for a number of minutes — how many is yet to be decided — if players are feuding or if tempers on the pitch get out of control. No trials have taken place yet, but the idea would be for players to be split by match officials into different areas, such as their separate penalty areas.
It is one of a number of proposals on Ifab’s agenda aimed at improving “participant behaviour” –— of players, coaches and supporters. Other proposals, previously revealed by The Times, include trials where only captains can approach match officials, similar to how rugby operates.
