Top Ad
I DIG Radio
www.idigradio.com
Listen live to the best music from around the world!
I DIG Style
www.idigstyle.com
Learn about the latest fashion styles and more...

Prem bosses lead backlash over blue card trial

Written by 
Published in Soccer
Friday, 09 February 2024 08:43

Premier League bosses including Jurgen Klopp, Mauricio Pochettino and Ange Postecoglou came out against the International Football Association Board (IFAB) plan to introduce a blue card on Friday as part of trials to introduce sin bins in professional football.

The trial is designed to assess whether temporary dismissals for dissent and specific tactical offences such as so-called 'professional' fouls -- where a player deliberately takes out an opponent in an attacking situation when a red card isn't warranted -- can improve player behaviour and increase respect for match officials.

- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

Sources have since told ESPN that the blue card element of the sin bin trial has been postponed by IFAB.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp said that he thinks officiating should be made more simple for referees.

"These kinds of things just make it more complicated," Klopp told a news conference. "If you want to test it, no problem with testing, but if that's the first step to agreeing or already being sure that it will happen. I have no idea to be honest. I have no idea.

"[It] doesn't sound like a fantastic idea in first moment. But I can't remember when the last fantastic idea came from these guys [IFAB] if they ever had one.

Tottenham head coach Ange Postecoglou questioned the wisdom behind the trial.

"I struggle to understand why this urgency suddenly to bring in new things. I don't know if there's that much wrong with the game," Postecoglou said.

"My issue with the game right now is that VAR has changed football as an experience. I don't know why a different colour card is going to make a difference. I don't know about this taking things from other sports. Other sports are trying to make their games faster, we're bringing in more clutter."

Chelsea boss Mauricio Pochettino said that he wants to know how the blue card would be applied in different match situations, and added that he would have been shown "a lot" if they had been introduced while he was still playing.

"It's going to be more complicated because the interpretation of the referee [of] when to apply the red, the yellow or the blue [is important]," Pochettino said.

"What happens with the goalkeeper? Do you play without the goalkeeper for 10 minutes or can you change? We will see.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta said he could see the potential benefits of the proposed new law.

"I think everything is being done with the intention to simplify it and make it more clear and try to cut out mistakes from decisions that are extremely difficult," Arteta told a news conference.

"In a split second, you are talking about centimetres, or even millimetres. So hopefully everything is done to improve the game, and if that's the case. It's worth trying.

However, the Arsenal boss also said that he wasn't sure whether sin bins would benefit the sport in the short term.

"We've got a lot going on now with decisions, with technology, with what has come in. I don't know if we're ready for that yet.

"Hopefully it's going to be tested very well before we introduce it at this level."

Meanwhile, in LaLiga, Real Madrid manager Carlo Ancelotti told a news conference on Friday that blue cards would only serve to make football unnecessarily complicated.

"The idea I have in general is to simplify the rules as much as possible," Ancelotti said.

"I don't know if [blue cards] simplify the referee's job or not. The rules are more complicated every year. I don't know if a blue card makes a referee's job more simple, or more difficult."

Sin bins have already been implemented in the lower levels of football since the 2019-20 season, where players have been shown a yellow card and been ordered to leave the pitch for 10 minutes if they show disrespect to an official. The IFAB was planning to trial blue cards to make the decision clearer to players, coaches and supporters.

The blue card trial, which was due to take place over the course of next season, will not planned to be implemented in top level competitions such as the Premier League, LaLiga, Champions League, Euro 2024 or the Copa America and it wouldn't be until the 2026-27 season at the earliest before it could have been able to enter the Laws of the Game.

"FIFA wishes to clarify that reports of the so-called 'blue card' at elite levels of football are incorrect and premature," the sport's governing body said in a statement on Thursday.

"Any such trials, if implemented, should be limited to testing in a responsible manner at lower levels, a position that FIFA intends to reiterate when this agenda item is discussed at the IFAB AGM on 1 March."

ESPN's Rob Dawson, James Olley, Alex Kirkland and Dale Johnson contributed to this report

Read 88 times

Soccer

Napoli honor Maradona on anniversary of passing

Napoli honor Maradona on anniversary of passing

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsNapoli fans and club officials paid tribute to Diego Maradona on th...

Ronaldo double bolsters Al Nassr's ACL place

Ronaldo double bolsters Al Nassr's ACL place

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsCristiano Ronaldo netted a pair of goals in Al Nassr's Asian Champi...

Raya warns Arsenal of 'in-form' Gyökeres' threat

Raya warns Arsenal of 'in-form' Gyökeres' threat

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsDavid Raya has warned his Arsenal teammates that Sporting CP forwar...

2026 FIFA


2028 LOS ANGELES OLYMPIC

UEFA

2024 PARIS OLYMPIC


Basketball

Morant back for Grizzlies after missing 8 games

Morant back for Grizzlies after missing 8 games

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsMEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Ja Morant was in the lineup Monday night for the...

Rockets' VanVleet hit with $50K fine for tirade

Rockets' VanVleet hit with $50K fine for tirade

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsRockets guard Fred VanVleet was fined $50,000 by the NBA on Monday...

Baseball

Ex-big leaguer Chirinos joins O's as bench coach

Ex-big leaguer Chirinos joins O's as bench coach

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsBALTIMORE -- Robinson Chirinos replaced Fredi González on Monday as...

MLB alters Rays' schedule; 69 of last 103 on road

MLB alters Rays' schedule; 69 of last 103 on road

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsNEW YORK -- Major League Baseball switched a pair of series involvi...

Sports Leagues

  • FIFA

    Fédération Internationale de Football Association
  • NBA

    National Basketball Association
  • ATP

    Association of Tennis Professionals
  • MLB

    Major League Baseball
  • ITTF

    International Table Tennis Federation
  • NFL

    Nactional Football Leagues
  • FISB

    Federation Internationale de Speedball

About Us

I Dig® is a leading global brand that makes it more enjoyable to surf the internet, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information.  Today I Dig® attracts millions of users every month.r

 

Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: www.idig.com
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Affiliated