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Carl Singleton, Senior Lecturer in Economics, University of Stirling

Football is being spoiled by time-wasting – what can be done ahead of the World Cup?

Football World Cup Fifa
Italian referee Marco Guida signals that he is taking account of time-wasting during a Serie A football match. Marco Iacobucci Epp/Shutterstock

Football fans, broadcasters and even head coaches have been complaining this season about excessive time-wasting spoiling the flow of the men’s game.

In the Premier League, the proportion of a match where the ball is in play is at a near-record low. Football’s world governing body Fifa has a target of 60 minutes of ball-in-play per game. Yet two Premier League matches this season had only just above 45 minutes of action – less than half the total match time.

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