Football chiefs APPROVE plans to trial sin bins after crunch talks in London - with only team captains able to approach the referee in a bid to stamp out abuse towards officials

Sin bins are set to be trialled at higher levels of professional football after the International Football Association Board (IFAB) met in London on Tuesday to discuss the laws of the game.

As part of the approved proposal, only team captains will be able to approach the referees with football's chiefs eager to increase respect towards officials and stamp out abuse.

During IFAB's Annual Business Meeting at the five-star Sofitel Hotel near Heathrow, it was agreed that team captains will be able to approach the referee in 'certain major situations'. 

The new proposals come in the wake of Mail Sport's campaign to kick out the mistreatment of officials in football, sparked by the harrowing accounts of abuse shared by grassroots referees on the It's All Kicking off podcast.

Ten-minute sin bins will be trialled 'for dissent and specific tactical offences' after being successfully implemented within grassroots football.

Sin bins have been hugely popular since their introduction into grassroots and junior football in England in 2019, with players who display words or actions of dissent forced to leave the pitch for 10 minutes of the match.

The successful trial of match officials wearing body cameras at grassroots level was also discussed during the meeting in London - and football's lawmakers will continue to monitor their value.

Brighton captain Lewis Dunk was sent off by Anthony Taylor this weekend after persistently arguing with the official even after being initially shown a yellow card for dissent. 

Outside of abuse towards officials, IFAB talked over potential strategies to stamp out time-wasting, discussing the six-second rule on goalkeeper distribution, delayed restarts and managing injures.

Keen to quicken the process of VAR, it was agreed that semi-automated offside technology will continue to assist on-field match officials in an effort to speed up decision-making.

The meeting, chaired by chief executive of the Scottish FA Ian Maxwell, also considered a potential review of next season's rules. Law 12 (Fouls and Misconduct) is set for an amendment so that handball offences for penalties are punished in the same way as fouls.

During the international break, two young referees revealed the extent of the abuse that forced them to walk away from officiating in interviews for Mail Sport’s It’s All Kicking Off podcast.

Rhys Baldwin took the decision to quit refereeing in April after 11 years. The 25-year-old shockingly explained how he had knives pulled on him and his car keyed in response to refereeing decisions he made in matches.

Fellow former referee George Sleigh, who quit after suffering a broken jaw from a player he had sent off in a five-a-side match, believes behaviours must change at the top but also at the bottom.

Mail Sport revealed exclusively last week that the FA had backed our campaign to stamp out abuse towards officials, stating: 'Referees are the lifeblood of our game.' 

'We support the Daily Mail campaign to encourage and promote respect towards them,' an FA spokesperson said.

'This is also a key priority for us, and at the start of this season we introduced a series of measures to help improve the behaviour of players, managers and coaches across English football as part of our 'Love Football, Protect The Game' campaign.

'It has a clear focus on tackling unacceptable behaviour towards referees and match officials.'

Statistics revealed as part of Mail Sport's campaign show how offences for dissent have more than doubled among players and almost quadrupled among coaches in English football this season, when compared to the last campaign.