International FA Board to experiment with sin-bins

Football's lawmakers will decide whether to proceed with trials for sin-bins as well as video assistance for referees next month.

Source: Getty Images

The International FA Board (IFAB) will receive feedback from experiments by UEFA into the use of sin-bins and decide whether to give the green light for further trials. The annual meeting in Cardiff on March 5 is also expected to agree to recommendations for live trials of video assistance for referees.

Initial trials of sin-bins took place at an Under-16s tournament where players were sin-binned for 10 minutes for offences but observers reported the game was affected significantly with teams becoming more defensive when they were a player down and also being less willing to commit to tackles.

UEFA president Michel Platini, who is currently appealing against an eight-year FIFA ban, has championed a 'white card' and sin-bins for offences such as dissent to the referee, and UEFA has been organising fresh trials of the system.

IFAB delegates will also look at allowing a fourth substitute to be brought on if a match goes to extra-time, and the ongoing issue of the 'triple punishment' where a player can concede a penalty, be sent off and suspended for the next match for a single offence of denying a goalscoring opportunity.