Stoppage time in Soccer
With the Euro 2012 thread going strong here, I gather there are quite a few soccer fans on WSO. With that in mind, I had a one question.
What are your thoughts on stoppage time in soccer? Personally, I think its one of the stupidest rules in any sport, especially considering whats riding in a game (particularly a tournament game) and its undetermined. Sometimes it says 3 minutes but it ends 4. IN that extra minute, some team could be robbed of a victory.
Its ludicrous. Discuss.
Anybody who's never really played the game at a high level probably has that sentiment.
That stoppage time is part of what makes football (as it's called around the world) so intense, brings passion and emotions to the game. Football has already been commercialized too much, hope they never invent the time system like in US sports or any kind of instant replay. That's not the way football is supposed to be played.
With that being said:
There has to be extra time in soccer because the time runs continuously. If there was no stoppage time teams would fake injuries and delay taking restarts even more than they do now. A ton of games would end with a guy lying on the ground faking an injury.
It is the fun for the game!
The problem is that there is no clear rule when ref is supposed to blow his whistle to end the game. It is entirely up to the ref. Case and point the Man City vs. QPR. The ref allowed Man City to win that game in stoppage time and eventually the premiership. I wouldnt say it's totally a bad thing, but there is no clear rule that governs when the game will end.
I used to ref football (soccer) at a professional level. Without stoppage time, you would have no control over the game-I've seen players pretend to be injured, and refuse to move until regular time ended. I've seen substitutes refuse to leave the pitch. The amount of stoppage time is not arbitrary, especially in a Premiership match with a fourth and fifth official backing up the CR's estimate of time. When they put up 3 and play 4, that is generally because there was additional time wasting during those first three minutes of stoppage. Had the City-QPR match not included added time, Joey Barton would've effectively been rewarded for wasting time.
If you stopped the watch every time the ball went out of play, you would drastically increase the length of a match, which would completely change the character of the game. Further, this effect would be more severe at younger ages, meaning professional football would bear less and less resemblance to the amateur game.
The CR's main job is not robotically calling fouls - it is managing the game, to keep the players in line and produce an enjoyable product for the fans. Added time is one of the tools necessary to do that.
Of all the things that are wrong with football (corrupt governing body, too much money in the game, diving, goal-line tech), added time is not one of those things.
It's certainly stupid in the sense that stoppage time is almost always way too short. If the watch was actually correctly stopped every time the ball was dead, there would likely be 6-7 mins in a normal half. Instead, it's left to the referee's discretion, and they do, inexplicably, not actually measure it. They just estimate! How hard is it to keep time?
So yes, it's ridiculous. The clock should just be automatically stopped when the ball goes out. The problem with the current situation is that players can waste time and they will ALWAYS be able to waste more time than the referee then adds on at the end to compensate.
As I said before, time isn't added for the ball going out of play. It is added for the specific categories above, plus the CR's discretion. Also, stoppage time is actually timed - it is not just a random guess. All referees wear two watches, and both the fourth and fifth officials (who talk to the CR via radio) will time how much should be added. If they put up 4, and play 4:30, it is because that was what was supposed to be added.
As I said before, time isn't added for the ball going out of play. It is added for the specific categories above, plus the CR's discretion. Also, stoppage time is actually timed - it is not just a random guess. All referees wear two watches, and both the fourth and fifth officials (who talk to the CR via radio) will time how much should be added. If they put up 4, and play 4:30, it is because that was what was supposed to be added.[/quote]
Any other cause. This could include ball going out of play and the ball being dead, which is in fact the main cause of stoppages. The average free kick right outside the area will see the match stopped for nearly 1 minute (longer if it was controversial or if it's a league with a lot of 'emotional' players). Any penalty will take at least 1-2 minutes to be taken. Further, the average time for a goal kick to be taken is about 30 secs. There will probably be, what, 15-20 goal kicks in a match on average, so that's about 7.5-10 minutes lost just through goal kicks. My point is that (irrespective of whether not you count the ball going out/dead as 'any other cause[which constitutes a stoppage in play]'), there are a lot of stoppages in football, and that the actual time played is nowhere near 90 minutes, even with 5 minutes of stoppage time added on.
If the rules were clearer, there wouldnt be this problem. I hate that issue when they put 5 minutes on the board but play closer to 6. Play should be stopped at 5 minutes. No estimation, no pandering to the home team (which is a definite issue more so then any other sport).
I dont understand why they cant stop the clock if it appears to be a serious injury or if a player is faking it. The call is on the ref and shouldnt be questioned. The same way the additional time is subjective, whether a player is faking injuries ought to be the same.
Harsher penalties should also work. I just think its heartbreaking for a team who defended really well but because they have one player whose either a lunatic or prone to faking injuries (lets face it every team has one), they shouldnt be punished by a exceptionally late goal.
Also, if a player like Barton who refuses to leave after being sent off, the clock should definitely stop on that occasion. No excuse for that.
Sorry, evidentially I don't know how to quote properly.
Here's what I said:
Any other cause. This could include ball going out of play and the ball being dead, which is in fact the main cause of stoppages. The average free kick right outside the area will see the match stopped for nearly 1 minute (longer if it was controversial or if it's a league with a lot of 'emotional' players). Any penalty will take at least 1-2 minutes to be taken. Further, the average time for a goal kick to be taken is about 30 secs. There will probably be, what, 15-20 goal kicks in a match on average, so that's about 7.5-10 minutes lost just through goal kicks. My point is that (irrespective of whether not you count the ball going out/dead as 'any other cause[which constitutes a stoppage in play]'), there are a lot of stoppages in football, and that the actual time played is nowhere near 90 minutes, even with 5 minutes of stoppage time added on.
You guys do know that the stoppage time is just the minimum being added on? That is why there could be added on 4, but the game is first over after 5 min. Plus for every substitution 30 seconds is added to the stoppage time.
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