New Coloured Card and Sin Bins in Football? Soccer

[Bandit]

The idea of sin bins in football has been knocking around since, it feels, the beginning of time.

But now, it appears to be happening. Or at least moving a step closer, with the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the sport's lawmakers, recommending this week that "temporary dismissals" should be trialled in professional football, beyond the grassroots levels where they have already - successfully, apparently - been tested.

"The areas we're looking at is dissent and tactical fouls," said Mark Bullingham, chief executive of England's Football Association, which, along with the world game's governing body FIFA and the FAs of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, makes up IFAB. "There is real frustration with fans when they see a counter-attack that is ruined by that and whether a yellow card is sufficient."

"So, the starting point was really looking at player behaviour and dissent but then looking at whether we should extend it into other areas such as tactical fouls as well."

He added: "If that's the way the protocol goes then, absolutely, you spend potentially 10 minutes off the pitch as well.

"Some players do commit a foul - I know people call it a tactical foul, cynical foul, professional foul – but a foul that prevents a promising attack and they do it consciously knowing they're going to get a yellow card, and we think that really breaks up the game. So, would they not do it if they felt there was going to be a sin-bin? And that would be the question. I think with all of these things, success of sin-bins in grassroots game has been prevention, rather than cure. You get to a point where players know the threat of sin-bins and, therefore, don't transgress. And we would hope that it would make the same change."

In the trials to have taken place so far, a sin-binning is indicated by the referee showing a yellow card, then pointing to the sidelines with both index fingers, banishing the offending player to the sidelines for 10 minutes.

What do you think if this does happen?

 

[Recycling Bin]

Ridiculous idea and will further ruin the game. I miss the football I watched growing up. Why does everyone keep wanting to change things that have always worked fine?

 

[Black Sheep]

I miss the football I watched growing up.

Unless you were born in 2005, football today is nothing like what you watched growing up.

Aside from referee incompetence being highlighted by VAR, time wasting is the biggest problem of the sport at the moment, so it seems comical to suggest a time(d) penalty as the next major rule change. Aside from that I think it's going into the right direction at least, a yellow card simply doesn't weigh up against ruining a promising counter attack in its tracks, especially not with the way most referees seem to pride themselves on not carding properly in the first x minutes of a game.

 

[Franco Pinion]

Just seems like a gimmick. We don't need new rules to make the game more entertaining. Just improve what's on ground. Make VAR more sparse and fast. Introduce semi-automated offsides. Improve consistency of card decisions. Codify what needs to be in place for a penalty to be given and eliminate soft pens. That takes the game up a notch.

 

[Tom]

Too many new ideas when we can't even get the failing current ideas and rules right.

 

[Black Sheep]

It works in rugby because there is a game clock. The ref stops and starts the clock so that stoppages don't eat into playing time. Not in football. So all this is is a recipe to ruin matches. Lots and lots of stoppages.

My experience of the sin bin at grassroots level is far removed from the "success" claimed (who is making this claim, exactly?). It simply leads to timewasting at every opportunity and a breakdown in the game's continuity. In short, an unnecessary additional tier of in-game bureaucracy.

 

[Tom]

It works in rugby because there is a game clock. The ref stops and starts the clock so that stoppages don't eat into playing time. Not in football. So all this is is a recipe to ruin matches. Lots and lots of stoppages.

My experience of the sin bin at grassroots level is far removed from the "success" claimed (who is making this claim, exactly?). It simply leads to timewasting at every opportunity and a breakdown in the game's continuity. In short, an unnecessary additional tier of in-game bureaucracy.

Exactly.

Then what, you book players for time wasting? Double sin bin?

 

[Best]

All they have to do is enforce the exisiting rules. Start giving the second yellow on a regular basis and after a few matches, you'll see improved behavior from the players. It's not difficult.

I'd rather just see a straight red for cynical fouls, which would also clean up the situation in short order.

 

[David76]

It's an absolutely wretched idea with much more against it than for it. Yellow and red cards, applied correctly are perfectly fine - there is no 'orange card', it's just the ref's interpretation that whether it's a yellow or a red.

Tactical fouls are annoying so punish them with yellow cards more consistently - too many times a player gets a finger wagging, especially for the 'first offence' (when was it introduced to the laws that you could do most fouls once a game for free?)

If players were getting booked on their first offence, and then a second yellow if they did it again they'd soon stop.

VAR is bad enough, I honestly think sin bins might be enough to kill the sport for me completely.

 

[Ginger Ted]

Will never work and only complicate things more. The introduction of VAR has totally ruined the heart and soul of football and this sin bin nonsense will only be the final nail in the coffin.