The Fifa World Cup in Qatar has seen some of the longest stoppage times.
The 6-2 win by England over Iran saw an eye-popping 117 minutes of play. It became the longest ever World Cup group stage.
Wales and the US’s 1-1 draw had 14 minutes and 34 seconds time popped on top so this was onot anomally.
And the reason why?
Well, a match is 90 minutes.
But since the 2018 World Cup, FIFA started heavily policing times on stoppage cause by injuries, celebrations, video assistant referee (VAR) reviews and substitutions.
Pierluigi Collina, chairman of FIFA’s referees committee and a former referee himself, says the intent is to have as much playing time as possible.
Fifa gets annoyed by things such as showboating, goal celebrations which are too long and players getting treatment for excess rime.
Now, Collina says all that time has to be compensated for the team disadvantaged. This has resulted in teams spending less time wasting.
In a Champions League match between Chelsea vs Milan this season, the game was in play for just 54 minutes. That is just plain ridiculous.
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