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Julian Nagelsmann leads criticism of plans to book coaches

July 29, 2019

A plan to allow referees to issue yellow and red cards to coaches in the Bundesliga has been met with criticism from the coaching fraternity. It remains unclear whether coaches could face bans after three yellow cards.

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Fussball Bundesliga l Borussia Mönchengladbach vs TSG 1899 Hoffenheim l 2:2 - Julian Nagelsmann
Image: Getty Images/Bongarts/L. Baron

Julian Nagelsmann (pictured above, right) has become the latest Bundesliga head coach to attack the idea of introducing yellow cards for coaches.

"I think you need to appeal to someone on a human level, rather than regulating everything through penalties," the new RB Leipzig coach said on the fringes of an international coaches' congress in Kassel on Monday. I don't think it serves the cause for a coach to be sitting on the bench every fourth game, just because he has expressed his emotions."

Hertha Berlin's new coach Ante Covic struck a similar tone in Monday's edition of the German football publication Kicker.

"You shouldn't try to turn us into robots. This sport lives on emotions and these emotions must be allowed to be free to some extent," the first-year Bundesliga coach said.

Speaking at a media event on Friday, shortly after the news of the idea broke, veteran Fortuna Düsseldorf coach Friedhelm Funkel went even further, describing the idea as "the biggest piece of nonsense of all time."

Deutschland | Fußball Bundesliga | Fortuna Duesseldorf vs Eintracht Frankfurt 0:1 - Letzte Ermahnung für Trainer Friedhelm Funkel
Düsseldorf's Friedhelm Funkel doesn't think much of the idea of coaches getting yellow cardsImage: Imago/M. Müller

The Bundesliga is set to implement the change from the start of the 2019-20 season after the International Football Association Board (IFAB), which oversees the laws of the game, ruled at a meeting earlier this year, that yellow and red cards could be issued to coaches.

Three yellow cards and you're out?

Bundesliga coaches issued with a red card will face an automatic one-match ban, and, according to the Bild report, could be given a one-match ban after receiving three yellow cards. Nagelsmann criticized in particular the idea of a yellow-card ban.

"Why should a coach be banished to the stands faster than a player?" asked the 32-year-old, referring to the fact that players face automatic bans only after receiving five yellows.

According to Bild, the issue of yellow card bans, which IFAB left to the discretion of the national associations, is to be discussed at a meeting of the German Football League (DFL), which operates the Bundesliga, on August 21 – five days after the upcoming season kicks off.

While several coaches criticized the new rules, Bundesliga referee Manuel Gräfe played them down, saying he was certain they "wouldn't change much" in practice. 

pfd/mf (dpa, SID)