Blue cards for sin-binned players to be trialled by football's lawmakers Ifab

[CharlieH]

 

Football's lawmakers Ifab are to trial sin-binning players and issuing blue cards, it will be announced on Friday.

 

Sin-bins have been used at grassroots level for dissent but their use could be extended to cynical fouls as part of a trial.

 

A player would spend 10 minutes in the technical area after being given a blue card by a referee.

It is not yet clear when the trial will start and which competitions it will involve.

The Premier League has already ruled out being part of the initial roll-out of any trial, while football's world governing body Fifa said "reports of the so-called 'blue card' at elite levels of football are incorrect and premature".

It added: "Any such trials, if implemented, should be limited to testing in a responsible manner at lower levels, a position that Fifa intends to reiterate when this agenda item is discussed at the Ifab AGM [annual general meeting] on 1 March."

Ifab (International Football Association Board) is scheduled to hold its annual meeting at Loch Lomond in Scotland in March and sin-bin trials at higher levels of the game are listed as a topic for discussion in the agenda.

• Sin-bin trial plan recommended for professional games

Sin-bins were piloted in 2018-19, with the Football Association reporting a 38% total reduction in dissent across 31 leagues.

They were introduced across all levels of grassroots football from the 2019-20 season in an attempt to improve levels of respect and fair play.

 

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