Blue Cards Absent from Latest Changes by Football’s Lawmakers
13:26 JST, March 3, 2024
A controversial sin bin trial featuring blue cards was absent from the latest changes made by football’s lawmakers to improve player behaviour on Saturday.
It was reported in February that blue cards were set to be part of a trial of sin bins at higher levels of the professional game.
Details of the trial were believed to have been close to publication by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) last month.
But the negative response to the proposal from Premier League managers like Liverpool’s Jurgen Klopp and Tottenham’s Ange Postecoglou played a role in the trial details being delayed.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Friday that he “wasn’t aware” blue cards were intended to be used in the trial and said his organisation was “completely opposed” to the idea.
Sin-bin yellow cards will continue to be trialled at grassroots level instead.
“If the trials at the lower levels work, of course the conversation continues throughout the pyramid,” said the English Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham after IFAB’s annual general meeting near Loch Lomond, Scotland.
“I don’t think that was ever the intention for the trial to start in the Premier League.”
Stronger enforcement on time-wasting goalkeepers was the major development to emerge from the meeting.
Fans could be encouraged to join in countdowns on goalkeepers holding on to the ball too long.
In competitions taking part in the trial, goalkeepers will be able to hold onto the ball for eight seconds and the sanction for holding on too long would be a corner or a throw-in in line with the penalty spot, rather than an indirect free-kick.
Under current guidelines, ‘keepers are supposed to only hold onto the ball for a maximum of six seconds, but the rule is rarely strictly enforced.
The other two trials approved by IFAB are designed to help referees regulate player behaviour.
Referees now have the option to create captain-only zones and cooling-off areas in the event of mass confrontations.
"Sports" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
Shohei Ohtani Won’t Pitch in the World Series, but That’s Not Slowing Ohtanimania
-
Yokohama DeNA BayStars Capture 1st Japan Series Title in 26 Years (Update 1)
-
World Series Champion Dodgers Have Eye on Back-to-back Titles with Shohei Ohtani Returning to Mound in 2025
-
Shohei Ohtani Set to Play for Dodgers in Game 3 of World Series Following Shoulder Injury
-
BayStars Capture 1st Japan Series Title in 26 Years
JN ACCESS RANKING
- Streaming Services Boost Anime Popularity Overseas; Former ‘Geeky’ Interest More Beloved Among Gen Z than 3 Major U.S. Sports
- G20 Sees Soft Landing for Global Economy; Leaders Pledge to Resist Protectionism as Trump Calls for Imported Goods Flat Tariff
- 2024 POLLS: Ruling Camp Likely to Win Lower House Majority
- Chinese Social Media Still Full of Anti-Japanese Posts 1 Month After Boy’s Fatal Stabbing; Malicious Videos Gain Large Number of Views
- Chinese Rights Lawyer’s Wife Seeks Support in Japan; Sophie Luo Calls for Beijing to Free Ding Jiaxi, Xu Zhiyong