Australia to trial red and yellow card for coaches

SYDNEY: Australia will trial red and yellow cards for coaches and other team officials starting this weekend in an effort to improve behaviour on the sidelines at A-League matches, Football Federation Australia (FFA) said.

Red card offences would include throwing a water bottle in a “dangerous or aggressive manner”, spitting, the use of insulting or abusive language or entering the other team’s technical area in a “confrontational manner”.

Throwing a water bottle to show dissent, sarcastic clapping of match officials, persistent excursions beyond the bounds of the technical area or “gesturing or acting in a provocative, derisory or inflammatory way” will earn coaches a yellow card.

“It will help fans and viewers better understand the issues that match officials face on a weekly basis and help promote respect towards them,” said A-League boss Greg O’Rourke.

“Importantly it will send a strong message throughout the game at grassroots level that poor behaviour towards match officials and opposition team officials is unacceptable and carries consequences.

“The ideal outcome of the trial is to improve behaviour from within the technical area towards match officials and also between team benches.”

The FFA have received approval from the International Football Advisory Board (IFAB) to conduct what they believe is an unprecedented trial in a top tier domestic competition.

In April, the A-League became the world’s first professional league to use video assistant referees (VARs).