Green stuff no object in hunt for new boss
New blue card trials on horizon We Can’ look forward to it! FAI apologise for fan email
FOOTBALLERS could soon be left feeling blue as part of a disciplinary shake-up.
Lawmakers the International Football Association Board (IFAB) are today expected to rubber stamp a raft of recommendations which could see the introduction of blue cards.
They would be used in conjunction with trials of sin bins for time wasting and tactical fouls, which would see players banished from the pitch for ten minutes.
Blue cards would be the biggest change since the introduction of red and yellow cards at the 1970 World Cup.
Sin bins trials next season have been firmly on the agenda for some time and the move has been welcomed by referees, as football tries to crack down on bad behaviour on the pitch.
The IFAB are due to confirm their more detailed proposals today ahead of a meeting next month.
Trialled
Welsh FA chiefs wanted to try them at lower league level but needed IFAB clearance and sin bins and blue cards are most likely to be trialled at grassroots levels.
Two blue cards are expected to lead to a red card, as would a combination of a blue and yellow card.
Premier League Chief Football Officer Tony
Scholes this week ruled out the possibility of sin bins being used at the top level of the English game next season, or any time soon.
The FA are likely to agree until they have been shown to work at lower levels.
But speaking in November FA chief executive, Mark Bullingham, said: “When we were looking at sin bins – protocol clearly has to be developed — the areas we were looking at were dissent, where it’s worked very, very well in the grassroots game in England.”
FIFA referees’ chief Pierluigi Collina has already backed sin bins, saying: “The idea is to start working on this as soon as possible to provide those who would be involved in the trial a protocol to be used.
“The trial was very successful in grassroots competitions. Now we are talking of a higher level, very probably professional or even high professional football.”
FAI CHIEFS believe the new Ireland boss will rise to the challenge of taking on England in the Nations League.
The draw for the group stages took place in Paris last night and Ireland will play England, Finland and old foes Greece in their group.
Ireland will play the trio home and away in their only competitive fixtures of 2024, in September,
October
November.
England are returning to the Aviva for the first time since 2015.
The sides last met at Wembley in November 2020, when the hosts stuffed Stephen Kenny’s side 3-0 and the ‘video gate’ fallout dominated headlines.
Quizzed on the draw, FAI Director of Football Marc Canham — who is driving the process to recruit Stephen Kenny’s successor — said: “It’s tough, but exciting.
“There’s some amazing games and obviously we’re playing England for the first and
“There would have been injuries.”
The FAI yesterday released a statement apologising for the content of the email, which they say was “sent to a small number of supporters”.
It continued: “The email referenced elements of feedback from the night with a number of sections of the feedback contested, in particular relating to alleged fan behaviour.”
Result
The FAI acknowledged the “thorough, but as a result, slow security search on entry, a lack of clear signage, issues with access, as well as complications with ticket scanning.”
The statement concluded: “The FAI has time in a while. It’s a great opportunity for our players and team and our amazing fans, an experience they can really look forward to. “It brings a lot of attraction and interest to the game. It’s going to be amazing for our fans to go to England and play and then vice-versa.
Regular
“They’re a top-quality team, that’s where we want to be. Ultimately our aim is to be playing on a regular basis in the Nations League and in tournaments.”
Canham added: “We’re playing Greece again, having only recently played them so us and them will know each other pretty well.
“And Finland as well, they are ranked very near us in the world rankings, so it’s a tough but an exciting draw.” expressed disappointment in how certain aspects of the matchday operation affected the Irish supporters.
“The FAI would like to apologise for any offence caused to our supporters regarding the response in question but also wants to stress, once again, the excellent behaviour and patience of our supporters during this game and our away games in general.”
Kelly explained how he arrived 25 minutes before kick-off and made the long walk to the away end, which was poorly signposted. There, he found just four turnstiles were open.
“I proceeded to queue up and 25 minutes into the game there were still probably about 1,000 supporters ahead of me,” he said.
WATCHING WITH INTEREST: FAI President Paul Cooke at the Nations League Pool draw in Paris, France