Soccer

Uefa will not follow ‘absurd’ stoppage time rules, says official

Zvonimir Boban says it is a ‘tragedy’ of player welfare to add on up to 15 minutes to a game

Former footballer and Uefa official Zvonimir Boban. Photograph: Jurij Kodrun/Getty
Former footballer and Uefa official Zvonimir Boban. Photograph: Jurij Kodrun/Getty
Thu Aug 31 2023 - 13:00

The new stoppage-time rules that English soccer has enacted this season to avoid time wasting 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 increase the time the ball is in play, with games now routinely going beyond 100 minutes in total.

Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, Manchester United defender Raphael Varane and global players’ union FIFPRO have criticised the new approach, saying it will increase player workload in an already packed schedule.

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“It's absolutely absurd,” former AC Milan and Croatia midfielder 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 backed Boban and said the governing body 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,” Rosetti said. Why do people like the Champions League so much? Because it’s intensive, it’s fantastic, the players never stop.

“We tell our referees to speed up the restart of play instead of focusing on stoppage time.”

(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2023