November 28th 2023.
Paul Merson, an Arsenal hero, is not too happy about the idea of introducing sin bins in football. The International Football Association Board (IFAB) announced on Tuesday that trials of sin bins will come in beyond the grassroots tests they have carried out, potentially at professional level.
The sin bins are being proposed for dissent and the trials have been successful in reducing the levels of abuse that officials receive. However, Merson believes that there will be a price to pay for that benefit. He believes that games will grind to a halt while one team is down a player for 10 minutes and the sport will suffer.
"So they want to bring in sin bins? Sin bins? Pathetic," Merson told Sky Sports. "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."
Merson went on to criticise the decision-makers, saying they have already failed to get VAR right, and making more changes to the game is not the answer. He likened the situation to having a spaghetti bolognese that tastes 'horrible', and not adding more ingredients to it.
"We're talking about people who know the rules but don't have a clue about football. Not a clue," he said. "It'll just make people argue even more! 'Oh, he should've been sent to the sin bin last week.' When are they going to stop? Don't put new things in when you haven't fixed the problems with the rules you've already got."
Merson believes that the introduction of sin bins will only make the situation worse. He believes that the current problems should be fixed first, and that adding more changes to the game will not help.
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