The FA has invited grassroots leagues at Step 7 and below of the National League System to trial Temporary Dismissals (more commonly known as ‘sin bins’) during their fixtures next season.
Following the decision of IFAB earlier this year to permit National Associations the ability to implement changes in rules at grassroots level of the game, we have agreed to pilot the system in selected leagues for the duration of the 2017-18 season.
This will include a mixture of Saturday and Sunday, male, female, adult and youth leagues across the country.
With dissent accounting for 24 per cent of all cautions at grassroots level, the intention is to change the behaviour and impose an immediate sanction on the player so the use of sin bins will be restricted for cautions of dissent only.
The system imposes an immediate sanction on the player, who will then undertake a ten-minute period of a temporary dismissal (period amended for youth games accordingly).
And whilst referees will still be required to report the incident in order for the RESPECT sanctioning to continue and to record cautions for continual misconduct purposes, the sin bin caution will not attract the normal £10 administration fee as cautions for dissent currently do. This puts the focus purely on changing behaviour.
With nominations for leagues now open to implement sin bins next season, there has already been a positive response with over 60 leagues in support of it.
