Fifa has set the record straight regarding the reasons behind match officials adding long regulation times.
The World Cup in Qatar has witnessed record-breaking long additional times being added by referees since the opening match between Qatar and Ecuador.
Italian referee Daniele Orsato added a total of 18 minutes, with VAR checks presumably one of the reasons Orsato added so much time.
The longest additional time added at the finals was in a match between England and Iraq, where the referee clocked 14 minutes towards the end of the first stanza, and 13 minutes at the end of the second-half due to a head injury involving Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand.
However, Fifa referees committee chairman, Pierluigi Collina, explained the reason behind the long additional times.
“We have already recommended to our referees, and this is nothing new, because we already did something similar in Russia four years ago,” said Collina during a Fifa press conference.
“So, we recommend our referees to be very accurate in calculating the time to be added at the end of each half, to compensate the time lost due to a specific kind of incident. What we want to avoid is to have a match 42, 43, 44, 45 minutes of active play, this is unacceptable.”
At this year's #FIFAWorldCup, any kind of stoppage during play — whether it be for injuries, time-wasting or goal celebrations — will be compensated in stoppage time.
FIFA Referees Committee Chairman Pierluigi Collina explains more: pic.twitter.com/eHMhhgfkM3
— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) November 22, 2022
The issue of time in football has previously been raised in South Africa, with Mamelodi Sundowns’ then co-coach, Manqoba Mngqithi, voicing his frustration about time wasting and referees not adding enough regulation time to compensate for the time lost.
“I don’t know whether we can see what is happening in the PSL [Premier Soccer League] right now. Time wasting is playing a big role if you check the average time we are playing,” said Mngqithi in a post-match interview.
“We are averaging around 43 minutes out of 90 minutes where the ball is in play. That for me is a cause for concern, because our officials seem to be not doing anything about it.
“For me, this is out of order, and if this thing of time-wasting in the PSL is not addressed, it is going to kill our game.”
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