MANAGERS from Dorset Premier League outfits Balti Sports and Dorchester Sports have voiced their disapproval over the trial of rugby-style ‘sin-bins’ for dissent in their division next season.

The Football Association announced that 32 grassroots leagues, including the Dorset Premier League, will trial the new initiative, in which a player will be sent off for 10 minutes without a caution, if adjudged guilty of dissent.

The leagues were picked from 130 competitions at step seven in the pyramid and below that registered an interest in taking part in the pilot, and have been selected to provide a mix of male, female, adult, youth, Saturday and Sunday football from across England.

Trials of temporary dismissals were approved at a meeting of law-making body the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in March and each national association was given discretion on whether to use sin-bins for all cautions, or just some.

The FA has chosen to focus on dissent, which accounted for a quarter of all yellow cards last season, as it ties in with the governing body’s Respect campaign, to protect referees and improve behaviour.

In a statement, the FA’s head of judicial services, Mark Ives, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity to reduce dissent across the grassroots of the game.

“I am encouraged by the level of enthusiasm from county FAs, leagues, clubs and referees and in their collective commitment to make a difference to our great game at a local level. I look forward to seeing a positive impact during the course of the season.”

But, when asked about the planned initiative in Dorset by Echosport, bosses of grassroots sides from around the area, Marco Nott and Ashley James, voiced their frustrations over the trial.

Nott, the manager of Balti Sports, who finished second in the league last season, said: “I think it’s a crazy idea really.

“If you are going to have a player off the pitch once or twice a game it’s going to be making a bit of a mockery of the game itself.

“The refs have enough to do rather than worrying about a player in the sin-bin for 10 minutes and thinking whether they can come back on or not.

“I am hoping there is going to be a bit of common sense about it and the referees aren’t going to be trigger happy with the new sin-bin idea.

“I don’t think the game should change, there is nothing wrong with the game really. The whole idea is to keep 11 men on the pitch at all times and that’s just one way of making it not happen.

“I really don’t understand the point in it.”

James manages county town side Dorchester Sports, who finished seventh in the division last term. He said: “If there is a bit of a disagreement between two teams we could end up playing eight on eight, which, in my opinion, is ridiculous.

“We have definitely got to brief them (the players) ahead of it because football is a fiery game – it just seems like the rules want to take that all out of it, really.

“I think some of these rules are ruining football, in my opinion. I just think some of these rules don’t need to be changed.

“I think respect is there for referees. I don’t think they need to bring this in, to be honest. I think a booking (for dissent) is fair enough.”

Asked about the planned trial, a spokesperson for the Dorset Premier League said: “The league supports the FA initiative to try and reduce the amount of dissent.

“The sin-bin initiative is just another of the ways in which the FA are trying to encourage players to become more responsible with what they say on the pitch.

“Hopefully, if a club has a particular player, or players, who are sounding off at the referees with dissent, the players in that team might have a go at the particular player who is getting them into trouble and making them play with only 10.”