As the world of football heads into December, at this time of year all the talk is normally about potential January transfers, or talk about favoured potential champions, and those looking incredibly likely for the drop, but this year we have new and fresh tampering from the game’s law making body, the International Football Association Board (Ifab) who have now announced that they formally plan to introduce the idea of ten minute sin bins to the beautiful game in the very near future.
The group are still to determine which ‘levels’ will become the ‘best to test’ as they look at the idea, but many fans in the wider fanbase will be asking if they have learnt anything from the utter omnishambles that is not the Video Assistant Referee (lack of) technology.
Sin bins have been an idea for well over a decade as I remember it, but the idea has come under a number of guises whenever it has been discussed, but the introduction of this firm trial will also see a new rule allowing only a team’s captain to approach during the game.
Sin bins have actually been in football since 2019, but only at grass roots level, but the professional proposal came out in a meeting in London last Tuesday, but it does remain subject to approval at the annual general meeting in March of next year.
Speaking to BBC Sport, Ifab secretary Lukas Brud explained.
“The positive message of the meeting is that ‘yes, we’re going to do something in that direction’. Over the next weeks and months, we are going to identify which levels are best to test. I’m hoping in the next few months, we will have clarity about which competitions will want to trial this as well. It’s up to them, competition organisers, to decide whether they want to participate in those trials or not. I think it is important to understand that something big like this, and a big decision like that, has to be considered thoroughly when creating protocols and setting up the system to trial it.”
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham commented that sin bins for tactical fouls could be an option for consideration in the future.
“I think there is frustration for fans watching games when they see a promising counter-attack that’s ruined by that (tactical foul. The question of whether a yellow card is sufficient for that has led to us looking at whether that should be involved in the protocol as well. The starting point was looking at player behaviour and dissent – we’re then looking at whether we should extend it into other areas, such as tactical fouls, as well.”
Like most football fans, I will not be holding my breath that this is a success.