THREAD:

In games around the world managers remind the 4th official that time-wasting is occurring on the pitch. The referee usually points to his watch to indicate he is adding on this time. However, does it really mean much? How much time is actually being wasted?

In the tweet below this one you will see the total length of games (left) and how long the ball is in play for (right) from 2019-20 data. Does it surprise you? Did you expected the ball-in-play minutes to be much more? You're not alone if you thought this was the case.

How long do games last and how long is the ball in play for?

97:52 — 49:32 | Liga NOS
97:33 — 52:48 | Premier League
97:08 — 53:56 | Serie A
96:38 — 56:37 | Eredivisie
96:33 — 50:32 | La Liga
95:35 — 54:25 | Bundesliga
95:21 — 52:09 | Ligue 1

It is common to think games last for 90 minutes and teams have almost all of itwith the ball in a bid to win. However, almost every game lasts more than 90 minutes and the ball is, on average, in play between 48 to 55 minutes around the world.

The reasons why there is a large amount of dead-ball time is due to fouls, goal kicks, substitutions, waiting for throw-ins, delayed corners, the time it takes to set up defence for free kicks and more. The more fouls are given the longer this time extends.

Sometimes, this is greater in certain games wherein teams have good wingers. Why? The ball often filters out to the wings which results in more fouls, corners and throw-ins which all lead to an increase in dead-ball time.

In other games, there may be a midfield battle which results in multiple fouls. Consequently, dead-ball time increases due to these delays whilst the time of the game increases as a whole.

On some occasions games are halted due to injuries, physios on the pitch, players slowly walking off from substitutions or fan interruptions. This adds even more total and dead-ball time onto a game.

We usually see a team captain/leader bring attention to “time wasting” by an opposition goalkeeper and the referee points to his watch in an exaggerative manner. However, over 40 minutes are “wasted” in games by all these various elements.

The following sentence says a lot:

If time was stopped each time there was a dead ball and games lasted 60 minutes as a result then there would be an *increase* of on-ball time.

Only 60 minutes. However, it still increases on the averages seen above. In Spain, it's 10 more.

In addition, the majority of games have five to six substitutions with them. A rule of thumb is that 30 seconds are added on per substitute. This means 2:30 to 3:00 minutes should be added on after each game of this type. If this happens it is seen as good refereeing.

However, as mentioned before, the game has far more stoppages and time wasting. Some may say “keepers need time to set up goalkicks and defences to set up defending corners”. Well, players need time to get off the pitch when substituted. Yet, time is only added for the latter.

Does this mean the rules should change? I do not know nor am I sure of any position. However, what I do know is that games last more than 90 minutes and teams only get to manipulate the ball for 48-55 minutes of that.

There is hardly any push for this motion mostly due to how much of a change it is but some have proposed that games should last 30 minutes each way, 60 in total, with play being stopped whenever the ball goes dead.

This would increase the amount of time teams get with the ball on average by around six to seven minutes collectively. In some cases by more than 10.

There would be consequences of this which includes players needing to become fitter, games resulting in more goals on average (perhaps) and others. Also, it levels out the playing field around the world and assures that each team gets the same amount of minutes to play.

Conclusion:

We usually look at a game by the ball being in play. This only lasts for around 49-56 minutes in Europe. Standardising the game to two 30-minute halves, 60 in total, has been a suggestion in the past though it *is* a big change to the sport.

Thread End.

What are your thoughts on this concept? It is definitely a drastic change but only due to what we understand the game to be. In actuality, the game ends up with more on-ball minutes which results in more football.

Let me know your thoughts.