The Italian Pieluigi Collina, president of the FIFA referees committee, explained that the entity decided to increase the minutes of added time in the World Cup matches in Qatar “because people want to watch football.”
“The issue of matches that last even less than 45 minutes of effective time is something that comes from a long time ago and because people want to see more football, the added times are more rigorous,” explained the former international referee.
“For this reason, as FIFA and the International Board (IFAB), we have also been asking for years to do something, to try to have more net playing time during a match,” he added.
Collina said that “already in Russia (2018) something was done in this direction, asking the referees to calculate more precisely the recovery time to give at the end of each half”, he recalled.
“This recommendation was repeated here (in Doha), before Qatar 2022, to offer more effective game time during a match,” said the person in charge of refereeing the final of the Korea-Japan World Cup, which Brazil beat Germany. .
“We gave our referees some specific indications, to consider precisely, in particular the time due to player injuries that has already been calculated, but in a standard way, for one minute for each intervention,” he said.
“But there are many injuries that require more than a minute to be treated,” acknowledged the head of the FIFA arbitration commission. “And something similar happens with mods, for which in the past it was suggested to add 30 seconds” for each player replacement.
“The directive was this, but with the 10 changes and the multiple substitutions in a peremptory term, now they must calculate it with precision”, remarked Collina, who explained that there were also suggestions regarding the goal celebrations and the VAR interventions, as stated ANSA agency.
“It’s a moment of joy for whoever scores, but a certain amount of time is needed to celebrate and for the rivals there is less chance to play. So, the time for celebrating the goals is also considered,” he said.
“In addition, there are VAR interventions, when there is a delay in the resumption of the game due to a control carried out by the video officials and the main referee’s review, and that time must be compensated,” Collina alleged.
