Michel Platini, head of European governing body Uefa, has called for radical changes to the yellow card system currently enforced in world football. The outspoken Frenchman wants the lawmakers at the International Football Association Board to re-examine the current disciplinary system and replace yellow cards with a sin-bin style system used in rugby. Under existing laws, players who receive a straight red card or two yellow cards are "sent off", while players who accumulate five yellow cards through the course of a season will also be suspended. And it is the latter rule which has led to Platini's comments, as he believes a sin-bin would be a fairer punishment as it benefits the team the offender is immediately playing against, rather than future opposition. He explained:
"I would make it like rugby, punishing the offender with 10 or 15 minutes out of the game. 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".
It sounds like a zany notion, as Platini fails to explain what would happen should a goalkeeper get 'sin-binned' - and it isn't the first crazy suggestion that would change the way football works we've heard, either. Here, we chronicle 5 more proffered changes to football laws that are completely ridiculous.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
