Sin-bins for yellow-card offences in football could be given the go-ahead as early as next month.
The International Football Association will look at the proposal at its annual meeting in London in March.
The measure has been tested in Uefa development competitions and some amateur leagues in recent years.
The 'sin-bin' could be introduced in football for yellow card offences. Photo: Photosport
Former Dutch international Marco van Basten, FIFA's chief technical officer, has said sin bins would benefit attacking teams more than giving a yellow card to the player who has interrupted their move.
"It is more difficult with 10 against 11, and even more so with eight or nine," he told German magazine Sport Bild last month.
If approved, sin-bins will come in at youth and amateur levels and could be introduced to the professional game within two to three years.
Other proposals to be discussed at the meeting include allowing national associations more freedom to decide on the number of substitutions in a game.
Ifab, football's law making body, is made up of Fifa and the four British home associations - the FAs of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - and is responsible for making the final decision on law changes.
Van Basten told the BBC last year that soccer's world governing body was discussing whether to allow only team captains to speak to referees.
He also proposed abolishing extra-time and using a different system other than penalties in the shootout.
-BBC
