The European football governing body UEFA has chosen to forgo the extra timing that will be added to the end of matches going forward, describing it as a tragedy for players.
Football clubs, coaches, referees and fans have long complained about how little football is played in many games. This is because of various shenanigans that take place during a match and also because of stoppages arising from fouls and the ball being out of play.
In a bid to curb this, FIFA, via the International Football Administration Board (IFAB), introduced a system at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar in November/December 2022. This system would see every wasted minute from the regular 90 added to the end of the match. It was done to ensure that games were actually played for 90 minutes when finally reviewed.
Leagues have begun adoption of this method but a number of players and coaches have cried out against it. Their stance is that it is tasking on the bodies of the players.
The system looks here to stay, however, but UEFA have decided not to implement it in the upcoming UEFA Champions League games.
The draws for the 2023/24 edition of Europe’s most prestigious tournament will be held on Thursday 31 August 2023 ahead of a September resumption date for the tournament. The modifications, rules and guidelines for the new season will also be communicated to the team bosses who will be present at the draw.
UEFA, however, have decided to not adopt the new timing rules. About the decision to not implement the rules, the organisation’s chief of football, Zvonimir 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 which are very tough minutes to play.
“When you play 60, 65 minutes, when you get tired it’s the last 30 minutes of the game. And then somebody comes and adds another 15, 12, 14 minutes of the game, for what reason?
“We [the football world] are not listening to players and coaches. In England you know something even more than us because you have more games. And now we add to them, probably six, seven minutes more per game: it’s almost 500 minutes more per season.
“That is six games. It’s crazy. It’s too much so we will not do this. We will follow our guidelines.”
