UEFA stands against ‘absurd’ added time practice

From the start of this season, extensive added times in football matches became a new norm. English football has enacted this season to avoid time wasting, but these decisions 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 compensate the playing time and bring more entertainment towards the games. Manchester city midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester United defender Raphael Varane and global players’ union FIFPRO have criticized this change, saying it will increase player workload in an already packed schedule.

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“It’s absolutely absurd,” 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 has the same opinion and said UEFA 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. Why do people like the Champions League so much? Because it’s intensive, it’s fantastic, the players never stop.”