The Pembrokeshire Football League season begins next month and a new initiative to reduce referee abuse, which blights the game will be rolled out. This will see any on field player who shows dissent, by word or action to the referee, having to leave the field of play for 10 minutes (Temporary Dismissal), on top of receiving the mandatory yellow card, thus being a tool which discourages players from committing dissent offences with a more severe on-pitch sanction.
The Football Association of Wales trialled the new format last season across a in six leagues, including the West Wales Premier League and the decision to implement this was unanimously endorsed by the Community Board Game which is formed of representatives of Wales’s six Area Associations. Known as the ‘Sin Bin’ they will be introduced to grassroots senior and youth football throughout Wales from the beginning of the 2024/2025 Season. The outcomes of the trial showed an improvement in this aspect of the game, the frequency of Dissent cautions for players reduce by 34% compared to the previous season, while instances of Red Cards for Offensive, Insulting or Abusive language also reduced, by 32%.
A Temporary Dismissal will be issued by the Referee when an on-pitch player commits an offence of Dissent, where the referee will indicate a Temporary Dismissal by showing a Yellow Card and signalling with two hands towards the touchline. The temporarily dismissed player must leave the pitch for a minimum of 10 minutes of playing time in a 90 minute match, which will only begin when play restarts after the player has left the field of play. The referee has been instructed to extend the temporary dismissal period for any time ‘lost’ for stoppages. Once the temporary dismissal period has been completed, the player is only eligible to return to the field of play when the ball is next out of play, but must wait for a signal from the referee at a stoppage in play and return to the field of play, at the halfway line.
Further, if a player who has already received a temporary dismissal receives another caution for any reason, they will be shown a second yellow card and sent off from the game, and if a player who has already received a caution or a temporary dismissal commits a dissent offence, they will receive a second caution and be sent off from the game.
Temporary dismissals will also accumulate towards suspensions and administrative charges in the same way as any other caution. Players who are unused substitutes or have already been substituted will receive a caution for a Dissent offence but not a temporary dismissal. Members of technical staff such as Coaches cannot receive a temporary dismissal and will therefore receive a Caution (Yellow Card) if they commit a Dissent offence. Goalkeepers are not treated any differently to their team mates as regards the ‘sin bin’ and will be temporarily dismissed if they commit an offence of Dissent by word or action. If the Sin Bin period has not expired at the end of the 1st half, it continues during the 2nd half (or Extra Time), but the player would be able to participate in penalty kicks if that is a method to determine the result of a cup encounter.
In a survey conducted at the end of the 2023/24 season 12% of referees outlined that availability of Temporary Dismissals has made refereeing less enjoyable during the season, whilst 27% of Clubs surveyed disagreed or completely disagreed with the new ‘sin bin’ format. An internal survey to understand the experiences of match officials in Welsh football revealed that 1 in 4 Referees have experienced physical abuse, whilst 88% reported to have received verbal abuse whilst officiating at some point in their refereeing career. This has led to many match officials in Wales making the unfortunate decision to not continue refereeing due to the negative behaviour aimed towards them and was a driver in the new ‘Temporary Dismissals’ being trialled and now rolled out across Wales.
