By Tum Balogun For Mailonline
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Football fans, Premier League managers and former players have been left furious by the sport’s rulemakers’ decision to introduce a ‘blue card’ to trial ten minute sin-bins, with some saying they game is finished.
Arsenal legend Paul Merson blasted the idea as a ‘waste of time’ saying it will kill the game and create the ‘most boring football ever’.
Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, Everton‘s Sean Dyche, and Crystal Palace‘s Roy Hodgson are among the Premier League managers to have previously voiced their opposition to ‘blue cards’.
While fans have taken to X, formerly Twitter, to air their anger accusing the ‘rich’ of ‘stealing our beautiful game’ and being left baffled by the pointless move.
It’ll add further irritation to fans and some managers who are already annoyed by the the governing body’s struggles and use of VAR, with Premier League chief Tony Scholes admitting yesterday the technology still needs fixing five years on since it was first introduced.
The International Football Association Board is set to announce the move on Friday, according to The Telegraph, which would allow referees to send players off for ten minutes for dissent and cynical fouls.
International Football Association Board has signed off on trials for a new protocols that will hand greater power to officials to clamp down on cynical fouls and dissent
The blue card will be limited to fouls that prevent a promising attack as well as confirming a red card should be shown if they receive two blues or a combination of a blue and yellow
The new protocol will also be limited to instances of dissent towards a match official
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Merson was left exasperated by the decision and told Sky Sports: ‘You’d get 10 players sitting behind the ball the whole time, it’d be the most boring football ever. It’s an absolute waste of time, a waste of time.’
Referees will have the power to show blue cards for cynical fouls that stop threatening attacks and dissent towards a match official.
The card may also be issued to confirm a player should be shown a red card if they receive two blue cards in a match or a combination of a yellow and a blue.
The revolutionary move would be the first new colour of card introduced into top end football since red and yellow cards were adopted at the 1970 World Cup.
Trials will not be conducted during top-tier matches, though FA Cup and Women’s FA Cup games could be used for testing next year.
The FA are reportedly considering volunteering next season’s competitions.
One fan on X said the didn’t recognise the beautiful game anymore, while another said it would slow the game down even more.
A third added: ‘Game is gone. If this comes in football is completely finished.’
It is understood The Football Association is considering introducing sin bin trials in the FA Cup and Women’s FA Cup next season.
Blue cards have been used this season during a sin-bin trial in grassroots football in Wales, with the colour chosen to differentiate it clearly from a yellow or red card.
The introduction of new cards has already taken place on a smaller scale on the continent, with Portugal recently adopting a new measure to recognise good sportsmanship.
In October last year, a Portuguese fifth division player was believed to be the first recipient of a white card in the men’s game after passing up an opportunity to score after an opposing defender gave the ball away on the edge of his own penalty box and immediately went down injured and in significant pain.
The attacker quickly realised the defender was badly hurt and turned away from goal before kicking the ball out for a throw-in so he could receive treatment.
The sporting gesture was applauded by the fans in attendance, and was swiftly recognised by the referee who walked over to the player and brandished the white card.
Should trials prove successful in curbing the instances of cynical fouls and dissent, the new card could added to the laws of the game.
Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini pulls back the shirt of England’s Bukayo Saka in the Euro 2020 final, for which he received a yellow card
One example of a good use of the sin bin was seen in then Euro 2020 final when Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini pulled the shirt of England’s Bukayo Saka and only received a yellow card.
Under the new rules, Chiellini could have been forced to spend 10 minutes on the touchline, reducing Italy to 10 men against England’s 11.
Should ‘blue cards’ be introduced in football?
Should ‘blue cards’ be introduced in football?
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FIFA referees’ chief Pierluigi Collina backed the idea of sin bins, saying: ‘The idea is to start working on this as soon as possible to provide those who would be involved in the trial a protocol to be used. The idea is to get it soon.
‘The trial was very successful in grassroots competitions. Now we are talking of a higher level, very probably professional or even high professional football.’
Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham confirmed their interest in using sin bins back in November.
‘When we were looking at sin bins – protocol clearly has to be developed – the areas we were looking at were dissent, where it’s worked very, very well in the grassroots game in England,’ he said.
By contrast, UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has voiced his objection to the move and sin-bins will not be used at this summer’s European Championship or next season’s Champions League.
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