Platini wants sin bins instead of yellow cards

UEFA chief Michel Platini wants yellow cards to be replaced by a rugby-style system of sin bins. "I would change the system of cautions," Platini told Spanish newspaper AS.
"I would do it like in rugby, where the perpetrator would be punished by being off the pitch for 10 or 15 minutes of the game. That means the team they are facing would benefit in the same match and it would be instead of a ban for accumulation of cards against another side later in the season. It is an idea which needs now to be developed and to see if it is something that would be good for the game." Under the existing disciplinary system, a player who is shown a straight red card or two yellow cards in the same game is immediately sent off and cannot be replaced. However, if a player picks up a certain number of yellow cards spread over several matches they will be suspended for future games, and it is this aspect that most concerns Platini. He believes a sin-bin would be a fairer punishment because "that way, the benefit goes to the team he is playing against, in the same match, instead of a sanction by cards which is carried out against a third team, the next on the calendar".
FIFA president Sepp Blatter poured cold water on Platini's idea later on Thursday. "I cannot see why we should change something in match control when we have already established all the regulations," Blatter told a news conference in Costa do Sauipe, Brazil, where the world's governing body is meeting ahead of Friday's draw for the 2014 World Cup finals.
The former France captain, who won 76 international caps between 1976-1987 and has run UEFA since 2007, also believes goalkeepers who concede a penalty should not be sent off. "It seems excessive," he said. "The penalty itself already is punishment enough. I think it's something that everyone in FIFA and UEFA agree, but one or two of the countries that make up the International Board are unwilling to change".
Platini said he had improved the game in Europe since taking over as UEFA president in 2007. "I have worked to improve the game by asking for three changes: the pass-back rule, the red card for the last defender, and the introduction of goal-line officials", he said. "I think I have done plenty to improve the game with these rule changes".

Source: Yahoo Sports