Footballers could be shown blue cards and sent to a sin-bin for dissent and cynical fouls under plans to be unveiled by the body that decides the laws of the game.

The recommendations are set to be made by the International Football Association Board (Ifab) on Friday ahead of trials across competitions.

The innovation is part of a concerted attempt by power brokers across international football to improve “participant behaviour” in the game, after a rise in on-field altercations.

Tightened rules that prevent players from confronting a referee, and increased financial sanctions for those who break them, were ­introduced across English football at the start of this season.

Already scarred by the problematic introduction of video refereeing technology, prominent figures within the game have been derisive.

But the chief executive of the FA, Mark Bullingham, who sits on the board of the Ifab, has defended the innovation.

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