Games in the Premier League regularly extend past 100 minutes now - though that's something UEFA won't be implementing themselves
(Image credit: Getty Images)
UEFA has criticised the increase in stoppage time across Europe, highlighting their concern for player welfare.
In order to compensate for time-wasting and lost minutes in games, leagues such as the Premier League and EFL have adopted policies to encourage match officials to add as much time onto the end of games as possible. As a result, the majority of matches are comfortably exceeding 100 minutes.
UEFA, though, are concerned with player safety. The governing body suggests players already have enough matches to contend with in modern football, so adding even more minutes onto the end of games puts them at risk of injury and burnout.
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Speaking at a briefing on UEFA's refereeing policies for the new campaign, UEFA chief of football, Zvonimir Boban, highlighted how officials won't adopt the same tactics in European competitions.
“It’s absolutely absurd," Boban said. "Regarding player welfare, it’s some kind of small tragedy or big tragedy because we are adding almost 12, 13, 14 minutes.
“We are adding almost one half of the game. I can speak from experience, especially as a midfielder, (but) it’s the last 30 minutes of the game when you get tired. And then somebody comes and adds another 15 minutes of the game, for what reason?
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Zvonimir Boban is concerned with player welfare (Image credit: Getty Images)
“How commonly have we spoken critically about the calendar and too many games. We are not listening to players and coaches - they are complaining all the time. And now we add probably six, seven minutes more per game - for some, that’s almost 500 minutes more per season, that is six games.
“It’s crazy. It’s too much, so we will not do this. Our guidelines are different.”
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) have, however, backed the initiative adopted by the Premier League and other leagues in Europe, after FIFA
Premier League rule changes come after FIFA encouraged each nation's federation to add more time at the end of games. World Cup 2022 is where extended stoppage time was first introduced, and now the Premier League and its counterparts have started to adopt similar rulings.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) have also backed additional stoppage time, despite UEFA's stance on the issue.
Games in the Premier League are frequently extending close to 100 minutes (Image credit: Getty Images)
Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future.
