There was an incredible 64 minutes of added time during the opening four games of the 2022 World cup in Qatar. This is a result of FIFA's new rules as the look to clamp down on time wasting at the international tournament.
So far, there's been an average eight minutes of time added on per half, due to a new FIFA directive. The governing body is trying to maximise playing time and reduce time wasting, thanks to the new initiative introduced by Pierluigi Collina, the new chair of the FIFA referees committee.
England's win over Iran saw a whopping 27 minutes of time added on throughout the game, due to a head injury to Iran goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand in the first half, and then injuries Harry Kane and Harry Maguire in the second.
"We want to avoid matches at 42, 43, 44 minutes from effective time," Collina told France Info. "So the times of substitutions, penalties, celebrations, medical treatment or of course VAR, will have to be compensated."
"You can expect longer halves, for sure," he told The Sun. "This is one of the topics we have spoken about. It will not be strange to see six, seven, eight minutes of extra time. We did this in Russia and everybody was positive."
The bid to limit timewasting will please those fans who feel short-changed by a lack of competitive action - something that will chime with Leeds United fans after they have been the victim of timewasting on several occasions in recent weeks and months.
Earlier in the season, Whites head coach Jesse Marsch confirmed that the club had spoken to the Premier League about the matter following draws against Aston Villa and Everton in which he believed Leeds' opponents wasted time.
'We tried to have some open dialogue with the officials and the league and the discourse was helpful and people are aligned,' he said.
'It's not great for the game to have time-wasting so I think they'll try to make adjustments. One of the things I said was that our next home match was against Arsenal and I doubt we'll see them time-waste. But I appreciate people have been open to the discussion in a good way.'
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