No Time To Waste
My opinion on introducing a system to prevent players from wasting time in football
I watch my team–Hull City AFC–play every week and I am becoming frustrated watching the pitch turn into a hospital wing, the whistle blowing every minute, the players arguing with the referee or each other and certain players rolling around on the floor for 10 minutes. I pay to watch football, not an episode of a soap opera. I can get that for free.
Payers may stop time-wasting if new FIFA rules are introduced. Football regulators are preparing to discuss 60-minute matches with a stop clock to ensure that the supporters are getting their money’s worth. This will make sure that when the match is disrupted–for example for injuries, red or yellow cards, substitutions, freekicks or VAR checks–the clock is stopped. This is brilliant news as fans get annoyed when players purposely waste time and this innovation should prevent that from happening. It will also make matches fair as the team that is trailing may have enough time to try and come back.
Time wasting is common in the Premier League–and I am sure this is the case in other leagues–this season as the average match has lasted 98 minutes and 6 seconds;, however, the ball has only been in play for an average of 54 minutes and 53 seconds. This means only 55.9 percent of the match is football and 44.1 percent is being wasted. Examples of matches where the ball-in-play time has been low are: Aston Villa vs Brentford match, where the ball was in play for only43 minutes; Arsenal vs Newcastle match, earlier in the season, where the ball was in play for only 51 minutes and 23 seconds and Crystal Palace's 2-1 win over Leeds in October, where the ball was in play for only 43 minutes and 46 seconds. This is absurd and it is not fair on the fans who are either travelling to the games or paying to watch them on TV. Tickets are expensive and they are only actually watching football for half, or even less, of the match. It is also frustrating to know footballers are still getting paid their full wage for completing only half of their job. If they were paid based on how many minutes the ball is in play it would be interesting to see what the average time played is.
Considering these stats, clearly, the Qatar World Cup got it right after all. The tournament became notorious for the, seemingly, extreme amounts of time added on at the end of matches; however, this was effective and it is what the premier league should be doing. By the end of the tournament, the average match length (excluding those that entered extra time) was 102 minutes; longer than the average times at both Euro 2020 and the 2018 World Cup. Moreover, the ball-in-play time was, on average, around 60 minutes, which is five minutes longer than the premier league matches this season. Whilst the supporters were complaining about how unfair the added time was–and I was one of them–they were, in fact, getting their money’s worth.
Some supporters say that this new rule will ruin the game as it will make the matches too short, and it will take away the excitement. But if the average game time is under 60 minutes some of the excitement has already been taken away. This proposal can only improve the game, and it will make sure we are able to watch a proper game of football and not a competition to see who can waste the most time.
Any period where the ball is in contact with the quarter circle by the corner flag should also be added on. Imv, of course.