Goalkeepers not exempt from blue card sin bins - leaving teams with awkward choice
Premier League managers would be exempt from blue cards under rules outlined - but there are no special exemptions for goalkeepers, who would be sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes
Goalkeepers would be eligible to be sent to the sin bin under proposed new rules relating to blue cards - meaning an outfield player may have to deputise in goal.
It emerged last week that the International Football Association Board (IFAB) have outlined a proposition for blue cards and sin bins : a punishment which would see players banished for 10 minutes should they commit tactical fouls or be caught time wasting.
The idea has already been met with a fierce backlash from several high-profile people within the game, including Premier League managers such as Jurgen Klopp and Ange Postecoglou, but further details around the initiative have now emerged.
FIFA were quick to outline that there are no plans to utilise blue cards at at an elite level immediately after reports circulating the idea were met with derision and outrage.
READ MORE: Jurgen Klopp made blue card feelings clear after he was booked for furious reactionREAD MORE: Man Utd prodigy Kobbie Mainoo set for England promotion after Gareth Southgate steps inBut, a new report from The Telegraph has outlined that while managers would be exempt from sin bins, there are no special exemptions for goalkeepers.
If a goalkeeper were to be shown a blue card, they can either be replaced by an outfield player temporarily or substituted for another shot-stopper.
However, any substitutions would be permanent. That leaves managers with a decision to make, particularly early in games: Do you give an outfield player 10 minutes, or turn to your No.2 immediately?
Join the debate! Do you think the introduction of blue cards would be a good idea? Let us know here.
As well as widespread criticism from football fans online, prominent figures in the game were not shy in voicing their opposition to the idea, including Klopp.
The Liverpool chief, who was shown a yellow card during Liverpool's 3-1 win over Burnley on Saturday, stressed in his pre-match press conference: “I think everything what the actual situation shows is we should keep it as simple as somehow possible, for the referees as well.
“It’s a difficult job, often quite emotional when we speak about it more so because it’s after the game, and I think the introduction of a blue card would just give more opportunities to fail as well because the discussion will be: ‘It was a blue card, should it have been a yellow card, now it’s 10 minutes off, in the good old times it would have been a red card or only a yellow’.
“These kind of things just make it more complicated. If they want to test it I have no problem with testing if that’s the first step to agreeing or it already being sure it will happen – I don’t know that.
“It doesn’t sound like a fantastic idea in the first moment but actually I can’t remember the last fantastic idea (which) came from these guys, if they ever had one. I am 56 and, pah, never.”
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