Sin bins should remain no-go zone for foothall

The sin bin at Leeds Rhinos home games used to be sponsored by West Yorkshire Police.

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It was a neat piece of tongue-in-cheek promotion by the boys in blue - even if they stopped short of going the whole hog and putting bars up for players to stand behind.

Football being the commercial animal it is, there will be marketing departments rubbing their hands at the new sponsorship opportunities opened up by IFAB's decision to extend current grassroots trials on the sin bin to higher levels, with a view to the Premier League possibly adopting them two years from now.

But in every other respect it is a mistake.

The premise of improving player behaviour towards officials laudable is heaven knows football's culture of complaint and intimidation needs reining in - but the sin bin is the wrong tool to use to reach that goal.

The theory goes that players will think twice before haranguing the referee over a decision if they know a 10-minute spell on the sideline awaits, but the rule-makers do not seem to have considered the unintended consequences and professional in football it is always best to assume the worst of human nature.