FIFA chief Pierluigi Collina proposes scrapping stoppage time in one-sided matches
The referee unfairly showed MERCY to Manchester United in their 7-0 thrashing at Anfield, says FIFA refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina, as he suggests Andy Madley took pity on Erik ten Hag by reducing stoppage time.
- FIFA wants to reduce deliberate time wasting in football matches
- Games regularly exceeded 100 minutes at the recent World Cup in Qatar
- But Collina has suggested that extra time could be ruled out in one-sided games.
Stoppage time at the end of one-sided games, such as Liverpool’s 7-0 win over Manchester United last weekend, could one day be eliminated.
But until that is added to the laws of the game, FIFA’s chief referee Pierluigi Collina insists that all matches must be treated equally in the interests of fairness.
Collina held a conference call on Thursday in which he mentioned how three minutes had been added to the end of Liverpool’s annihilation at Anfield, despite six of the seven goals being scored in the second half.
The 63-year-old Italian suggested a radical idea under which FIFA would consider canceling stoppage time in the future if a team has a goal lead of a certain number.
This change would be strongly questioned, as it would deny clubs the opportunity to improve their goal differences, which can affect where a team ultimately finishes in their league.
Pierluigi Collina has suggested removing added time in one-sided games in future
Liverpool’s 7-0 win over Man United had three minutes of added time in the second half, but Collina believes games like this could end without stoppage time in future.
Collina insisted that all matches must be treated equally when it comes to stoppage time.
Instead, Collina said the Qatar 2022 World Cup was an example of how to approach timekeeping in football, saying: “It was one (first-half stoppage minute at Anfield) plus three (in the second half). understanding that showing the relevant amount of time when it’s 7-0 is hard to understand in the specific game.
“But if the rules of the competition say that goal difference is relevant for the standings at the end (of the season), even a goal scored or not scored can make a difference.”
“When I played baseball, there was a rule that after the sixth inning, if there was a score difference of more than six, the game was over.”
Andy Madley was the referee at Anfield, where in addition to the six goals in the second half, there were 10 substitutions. Another Premier League game at the weekend had 14 minutes of added time in total.
“Maybe in the future we can consider it within the laws of the game to say that no additional time should be given at the end of the match if there is an ‘X’ goal difference between the teams,” Collina added. “But these would be (changes to) the laws of the game.”
Collina said he is pleased with the way injury time is added to games in general, noting that four of the 10 Premier League games last weekend totaled over 100 minutes.
He feels like he is addressing time wasting in football, as players realize that any time wasted will be reflected in the minutes added by the referees.
FIFA has already considered including a stopwatch, the timing method used in basketball, but decided against starting a test in discussions with IFAB lawmakers.
