Blue cards shunned as IFAB approve new protocols

A sin bin trial featuring blue cards was conspicuous by its absence as football's lawmakers set out plans to improve player behaviour on Saturday.

Blue cards were set to be part of a trial of sin bins at higher levels of the sport, with details of the trial having been close to publication by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) last month.

Media reports about blue cards published on 8 February drew a negative response on social media and from the likes of Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou, and plans to publish the trial details were delayed pending further talks at Saturday’s annual general meeting.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino said on Friday night he "wasn’t aware" blue cards were intended to be used in the trial and said his organisation was "completely opposed" to the idea, and an IFAB press release issued on Saturday mentioned two other protocols designed to help referees regulate player behaviour had been approved – giving referees the option to create captain-only zones and cooling-off areas in the event of mass confrontations.

But there was no mention of the sin bin trial or blue cards, only that "current guidelines to temporary dismissals in youth and grassroots football" had been "improved".

"Any potential wider application will only be considered once the impact of these changes have been reviewed," the release said.

Scottish Football Association chief executive Ian Maxwell, an IFAB director, said work on sin bins had definitely not gone further back.

"We’ve reviewed the protocol, we’ve updated the protocol, we’re going to assess how that works in that environment (grassroots football) before we decide on what the next steps of those trials would be," he said at a press conference following the annual