Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Sport
Hritika Sharma

Uefa calls added time rules ‘absurd’ and refuses to follow suit

EPA

The new stoppage-time rules that English football has enacted this season to avoid time wasting are “absurd” and will not be used in Uefa competitions, Zvonimir Boban, the European governing body’s chief of football, said on Wednesday.

Following Fifa’s approach at the men’s and women’s World Cups, England’s referees body said in July officials would add on the exact time lost to goal celebrations, substitutions and injuries.

The aim is to increase the time the ball is in play, with games now routinely going beyond 100 minutes in total.

Manchester city midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester United defender Raphael Varane and global players’ union Fifpro have criticised the new approach, saying it will increase player workload in an already packed schedule.

“It’s absolutely absurd,” former AC Milan and Croatia midfielder Boban told reporters in Monaco, “Regarding player welfare, it’s some kind of small tragedy or big tragedy because we are adding almost 12, 13, 14 minutes.

“When you play 60, 65 minutes - I can speak from my experience, especially as a midfielder - when you get tired, it’s the last 30 minutes of the game. And then somebody comes and adds another 15 minutes.

“How often we have spoken critically about the calendar and too many games. We are not listening to players and coaches ... It’s crazy. It’s too much, so we will not do this. Our guidelines are different.”

Uefa’s chief refereeing officer Roberto Rosetti backed Boban and said the governing body had been working for five years to increase the time the ball was in play during its competitions.

“There is something more important than the accuracy of additional time,” Rosetti said. Why do people like the Champions League so much? Because it’s intensive, it’s fantastic, the players never stop.

“We tell our referees to speed up the restart of play instead of focusing on stoppage time.”

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.