Football sin-bins to be discussed

13 January 2014 14:46

Sin-bins will be considered by two new panels which are being set up to advise on law changes in football.

The sin-bin system is being trialled in the Dutch amateur leagues this season and both FIFA president Sepp Blatter and UEFA president Michel Platini have suggested time penalties for players should be looked at.

It is expected sin-bins will be considered when the new advisory panels to the International Football Association Board (IFAB) are set up in March.

The panels, a football one made up of former players and coaches, and a technical panel of referees and law experts, will provide guidance and recommendations to IFAB, the body made up of FIFA and the four British home associations which makes the final decision on law changes.

Jonathan Ford, the Welsh FA chief executive who sits on IFAB, said he expected sin-bins - where a player has to sit out for five or 10 minutes - would be discussed by the new panels along with the so-called 'triple punishment' when a player is sent off after conceding a penalty, and the offside laws.

Ford, speaking from Zurich where the new structure of IFAB was announced, told Press Association Sport: "Sin-bins have been mooted in the past and there is a trial going on in Dutch football which has generated a fair amount of interest so one would expect that it will be one of topics the new advisory panels take up.

"The idea of the panels is that they will be more proactive and they will be able to look at these things and debate them while the IFAB's role will be as the final decision-makers."

The IFAB has looked at the issue of the 'triple punishment' - where a player concedes a penalty, is sent off and suspended - several times in the past but has resisted making any change.

"We have not been successful at solving this in the past because we have not found a better way," added Ford. "This is another of the issues, along with the interpretation of the offside rules, that I am sure the panels will look at."

The changes to IFAB have been brought as part of FIFA's reforms to try to make the body more transparent and give a voice to other groups involved in football.

The IFAB has also prided itself on being very conservative in terms of changing the laws of the game and Ford said he expected that approach to continue.

Source: PA