Jurgen Klopp says what everyone is thinking about blue cards and sin bins

09 February 2024 , 18:40

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Jurgen Klopp isn't keen on the idea of blue cards (Image: David Rawcliffe/Propaganda)

Jurgen Klopp believes introducing blue cards and sin bins to football does not “sound like a fantastic idea” - and will merely make referees' lives harder.

News leaked on Thursday that the International Football Association Board (IFAB) were about to announce the introduction of blue cards, which would mean 10-minute sin bins for dissent and cynical fouls. The idea has been widely criticised.

FIFA were keen to stress on Thursday night that blue cards would not be used at the elite level of the game initially. But such has been the reaction, that it has prompted IFAB to row back from their original announcement. Instead, they will discuss the topic further at their annual general meeting in Loch Lomond, Scotland next month before weighing up the next move.

Liverpool boss Klopp was asked for his thoughts at his pre-match press conference on Friday and said that the introduction of a blue card would merely present officials with “more opportunities to fail”.

The German said: “I think everything what the actual situation shows is we should keep it as simple as somehow possible, for the referees as well.

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“It’s a difficult job, often quite emotional when we speak about it more so because it’s after the game, and I think the introduction of a blue card would just give more opportunities to fail as well because the discussion will be: ‘It was a blue card, should it have been a yellow card, now it’s 10 minutes off, in the good old times it would have been a red card or only a yellow’.

“These kind of things just make it more complicated. If they want to test it I have no problem with testing if that’s the first step to agreeing or it already being sure it will happen – I don’t know that.

“It doesn’t sound like a fantastic idea in the first moment but actually I can’t remember the last fantastic idea (which) came from these guys, if they ever had one. I am 56 and, pah, never.”

Wolves boss Gary O’Neil believes blue cards could “damage” the stadium experience. He said: “I haven’t looked into it too much, it would damage the in-stadium experience, it would change the game drastically, to have to spend 10 minutes down to 10 men,” he said.

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Alex Richards