Football Queensland (FQ) has today announced new rules regarding temporary dismissals, also known as ‘sin bins’ to be implemented across all junior and senior zone competitions in Queensland from 2020.

As per IFAB’s Laws of the Game, the sin bin will be applied to grassroots, youth, senior and over 35s competitions.

The sin bin will not apply to senior men’s and women’s (U18, U20, First Grade) state competitions, including the National Premier Leagues (NPL) Queensland, National Premier Leagues Women’s (NPLW) Queensland and Football Queensland Premier League or the FFA Cup.

The introduction of the sin bin will see dissent from players towards referees result in a 10 minute or five minute temporary dismissal from the field, issued at the discretion of the referee.

FQ State Referee Manager Jacqui Hurford said the introduction of the sin bin would improve the match day experience and encourage respect for Queensland referees.

“There is no room for dissent at any level of our game in Queensland,” Hurford said.

“With the introduction of the sin bin, we hope to reduce dissent to improve the experience for our referees across the state and build a more positive culture in our game.”

FQ Chief Executive Officer Robert Cavallucci said the introduction of the sin bin followed the announcement of multiple new referee initiatives for 2020.

“FQ is committed to improving the recruitment and retention of referees in Queensland as outlined in our strategic plan, and we will be implementing a number of initiatives for the 2020 season to support our Queensland referees,” Cavallucci said.

“The growth of our game is underpinned by the quality and number of referees and coaches across the state, and the introduction of the sin bin alongside other new initiatives will support our key target to double the number of registered referees by 2022.”

Find out more about the sin bin here.