The Premier League have been accused of "killing the game" by introducing "pathetic" 10-minute sin bins.
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Sin bins might make way to top-flight footballMerson slammed the ideaBelieves it will slow down the gameWHAT HAPPENED?
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is preparing to carry out trials of sin bins at the professional level in a measure to reduce levels of match-official abuse that has been steadily on the rise. The trials have been going on since 2019 at grassroots and have produced considerable success, prompting a potential extension to professional leagues.
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Former Arsenal player, Merson, condemned the idea as 'pathetic' andwrote in his Sky Sports column: "In rugby union, you go down to 14 players, the other team's looking at scoring seven to 10 points. It's a massive advantage. A massive advantage.
"You put someone in the sin bin in football for 10 minutes, you're killing the game. You'd get 10 players sitting behind the ball the whole time, it'd be the most boring football ever. It's an absolute waste of time, a waste of time. All theyâd be doing then for that 10 minutes is taking their time over taking a throw-in, theyâll take a goal kick, theyâll buy a foul, and itâll just grind out the worst 10 minutes you could imagine."
Getty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE
Merson directed his frustration at PGMOL, arguing against introducing new elements without resolving existing rule problems regarding VAR.
"Weâre talking about people who know the rules but donât have a clue about football. Not a clue," he said. Itâll just make people argue even more! 'Oh, he shouldâve been sent to the sin bin last week.'When are they going to stop? Donât put new things in when you havenât fixed the problems with the rules youâve already got.
"Itâs like going to a restaurant and having a spaghetti bolognese, it comes out and you take a taste and say 'Oh, that tastes horrible'. You donât put it back in the kitchen and start putting extra stuff in it! Theyâre putting more pressure on themselves."
GettyWHAT NEXT?
FIFA are also contemplating significant changes to VAR, which include granting "greater responsibilities," fordecision-making on free-kicks, corners and second yellow cards. However, these potential changes are still in the planning stage and will not be implemented until IFAB's annual general meeting in March 2024.
