Violations in football are commonplace, which are then responded to with three types of decisions by the field referee: ordinary violations, serious violations which will result in a yellow card, and serious violations will receive a straight red card. The problem is that the boundaries between categories of violations can be biased which leads to referee subjectivity.
As football fans know, it is difficult to let go of subjectivity in a game involving 22 people at once. Not to mention including the complexity of tactics, positioning, and manipulation of spacetime bounded by the touchline and goal line that occurs during the net 90 minutes. Even after many league seasons, there is always the possibility that a referee’s decision will become controversial.
Various technologies are deployed to minimize debate. For example, goal line sensors and video-based assistant referees – which then invites another controversy that technology has disturbed the human side of football refereeing. Still, even after the effort was made, there was still something that invited protest.
Perhaps the supporters’ criticism would not be too significant, if this discussion were limited to only 90 minutes of the match. However, the protests that came from the technical area and on the field certainly had an impact on the continuation of the match.
Reporting from The Guardian, the British federation’s referee body (PGMOL) noted that statistics on conflict cases in the English league at professional level increased from 165 times during the 2022/2023 season to 347 times in the 2023/2024 season. One thing that has become a concern is the reduced respect for match officials.
Storage of Sin and Temporary Suspension
Since the 2019/2020 season, English grassroots football has implemented a “sin bin” rule that prevents disputes between players and coaching staff against match officials’ decisions. Literally sin bin means a trash can for sins. When convicting a sin bin offender, the referee raises a yellow card plus gestures with both hands pointing to the side of the field.
Even though it sounds like a place name, there are no special places that accommodate offenders. Players may not take part in the game and must leave the arena for 10 minutes. Sin bin could be said to be just a fictional barn that temporarily accommodates “sinners”.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB), as the institution that issues regulations, is now discussing the application of sin bins at the professional level. As a first step, the FA Cup and Women’s Super League in England were tested. There is no definite time yet, but this new system is expected to take effect starting in the 2024/2025 season. Former referee and IFAB member, Pierluigi Collina, also said that the sin bin rule could now be tried at the professional level – even the highest caste – to punish clashes and tactical violations.
The incident of Giorgio Chiellini pulling Bukayo Saka’s jersey during the 2020 European Cup final is an example of a sin bin violation. You could say a yellow card was too “friendly” to punish Chiellini’s behavior, but a red card was too harsh.
Mark Bullingham, chief executive of the English Football Association (FA), said to The Guardian, “There must be a sense of frustration among fans, when they see their team’s counter-attacks being damaged (tactical fouls) and (the question arises) whether a yellow card penalty is sufficient.”
This rule has been adopted in other sports such as rugby, lacrosse, ice hockey and water polo. The difference is that their yellow card actually applies a sin bin or temporary suspension. Teams whose partners leave will be at a disadvantage because they have to overcome their condition of not having enough people. Thus, the players do not violate as much as possible to avoid yellow cards.
That kind of logic is expected to form when football implements sin bin. At the grassroots level, sin bin has been proven to reduce conflicts with referees by up to 38%. According to the FA, the sin bin trial also received a positive response from football people affected by the rule. A total of 72% of players, 77% of managers and 88% of referees agree that the sin bin continues to be enforced.
“The success of sin bin at the grassroots level has been prevention rather than cure. “This means that players are aware of the threat of being sin binned, so they don’t violate it,” explained Bullingham.
Despite its position which seems to be in the middle of the spectrum of yellow cards and red cards, the impact of two sin bins actually feels lighter. If the accumulation of two yellow cards is the same as a red card, the player who received two sin bins is only expelled, but may be replaced as long as there is still a team substitution available.
One sin bin is equal to a 10 minute suspension. The second sin bin requires the team to play with 10 more players until the 10-minute suspension period has passed, then they may exchange the offender for a substitute on the bench. The yellow card shown before or after the sin bin only lists the player’s name as the offender. Only the second sin bin after the yellow card can expel a player can be replaced, as is the accumulation of two yellow cards.
The suspension period, which was cut short during the half, will continue in the next round. For example, a player gets sin binned in the last minute before halftime, then his ban ends in the 55th minute of the second half. Likewise, suspensions that cut full time will end in extra time. However, players who are penalized and have not been sent off at the end of extra time may still be involved in the penalty shootout.
According to the FA’s published guidelines for grassroots football, goalkeepers do not escape the sin bin rule. If the goalkeeper is suspended, one of the players must replace him in goal. After the sin bin penalty is over, the goalkeeper may enter the game as an outfield player, wait for the ball to die, then may return to occupying the penalty box.
Sin Bin’s Rejection
Not yet implemented in professional competitions, sin bin has already drawn protests. Ange Postecoglou, who currently coaches Tottenham Hotspurs, flatly refuses sin bin. “Just throw it away, throw away the whole idea. Forget it. I don’t know why they (IFAB) keep infiltrating the game (when) there’s not much fault in football. I think if they throw out an idea, usually they’ve already tested the waters.
“I think you see more opposition nowadays, yes because there are many things that trigger people to protest. Previously it was just the referee. But (now) you can challenge the fourth official, you can challenge VAR, you can challenge the head referee,” he said as quoted from ESPN.
Paul Merson, a former Arsenal player from 1985-1997, in one of the discussions held by Sky Sports also expressed his rejection, “They (IFAB) are trying to imitate rugby. You get sin binned in rugby, your (team) doesn’t get punished that badly. In football, ten people (remaining) just park behind the ball, and the game is ‘killed’ when the players just run, (throw the ball and then) throw in, and waste time.”
Merson explains that sin bin is just vanity. The former midfielder who played with Aston Villa during 1998-2002 gave an example of the case, if several players are successively sin binned, then the game turns tough and monotonous. Everyone will just look at the time board waiting for their colleague’s sin bin suspension to end.
Regarding violations in football, perhaps two colored cards are enough to be appreciated. The classification of fouls, yellow cards and red cards may be sufficient without the need to insert other categories. Moreover, the regulations issued by IFAB have set out details of the types of violations and their penalties. Because the problem of subjectivity that is to be addressed can actually be handled by standardizing match officials. Or is it possible that football is already used to violations and various controversies?
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