FOOTIE bosses are set to introduce a major disciplinary change with the addition of BLUE CARDS.
Any player who shows up will face a 10-minute spell at SIN-BIN, in shock plans to be announced on Friday.
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Footie bosses are set to introduce a shock new change to disciplinary rules Credit: Reuters
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Blue card and sin bins will be introduced to stop cynical offenses and dissentCredit: AP
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The IFAB is set to announce the groundbreaking trial on FridayCredit: Getty
If implemented at the highest level, blue cards will be the first major disciplinary change since the introduction of yellow and red cards in 1970.
Players will be shown a blue card if they are guilty of a cynical foul, or if they show disagreement with the referee, linesman or fourth official.
All these offenses are currently punished with a yellow ticket.
However, the threat of a 10-minute time-out in the sin bin would be a greater deterrent.
And if a player receives two blue cards in a match, he will be sent off, the same as for two yellow cards.
So the days of tactical fouls and players stopping promising attacks or counters by pulling on the shirt – like Italy star Giorgio Chiellini’s brutal pull on England star Bukaya Saka in the Euro 2020 final – could soon be over.
Six trials in the lower leagues in Wales started this season with active blue cards, although this had to be abandoned as permission was not given.
However, the concept is likely to be formally endorsed on the agenda of Ifab’s annual general meeting in Loch Lomond on March 2.
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Blue murder
Martin Lipton
It is a sin for football to let cynical frauds get away with it.
Therefore, the introduction of ten minute sin tanks would be a huge step forward for the game.
True, it doesn’t matter which card the referee shows – blue, green or pink.
What matters is that if the trial – which at this stage will not involve Prem or the EFL – is successful, then it could become part of top-flight professional football by the end of the decade.
The argument is simple: nobody likes what Fifa referees boss Pierluigi Collina describes as “anti-football action”.
It is a deliberate, cynical act to stop a potential break by fouling the opponent without any attempt to play the ball.
If teams that do this have to spend the last 10 minutes of a game with a player down, they could pay a real price, instead of just picking up a yellow card and “taking one for the team”.
A dissent container might make a stronger case for progress, though it might just restore some respect to the judges.
But having players sitting on the sidelines, powerless as their short-handed side concede a last-gasp winner, could actually change the way players behave. And that will be a statement of intent.
If Ifab gives the green light, professional leagues will be able to sign up to be guinea pigs from next season.
But there are no plans at this stage for the FA to adopt any refereeing schemes in the Prem, EFL or FA Cup.
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Tony Scholes, Prem’s chief football officer, said: “We have discussed the sin bins with Ifaba, in the same way we have discussed any potential trials to change the law.
“I don’t think that sin bins will be available to us as top competition anyway.
“That’s regardless of whether we use them or not.
“But they won’t be used by the Premier League next season.”
SunSport understands that it may be included in FA competitions including the Trophy and Vase, but will NOT be introduced into the FA Cup.
Neither Euro 2024 nor next season’s Champions League will include sin bins following protests from Uefa boss Aleksandar Čeferin.
Uefa, however, could be forced to implement a disciplinary protocol if the trials are successful.
The other two trials will see only the captains being able to approach and speak to the referees and the referees being able to stop the game for official “cooling off periods” if there is a major scuffle between players.
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Blue cards and sin bins have been successfully trialled at grassroots levelCredit: GETTY
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