SCOTTISH football officials have been urged to adopt the same hardline stance on time wasting as their English counterparts and get tough on players who are “cheating supporters” and “ruining games”.
Match officials in the Championship and Premier League down south have been given strict instructions to add on the exact time which is lost during stoppages for injuries, free-kick preparations, goal celebrations and substitutions in the coming season.
The new guidelines, which were drawn up following talks between law makers IFAB and the Professional Game Match Officials Ltd, have been introduced in an attempt to keep on-field action flowing amid growing concerns over how little the ball is actually in play.
Steve Conroy, the former Category One referee who now gives his opinions on the Scottish game for the Get Involved Referee, believes they could make matches far more entertaining spectacles for fans and deter footballers who try to slow games down if they were adopted in this country.
“Everything is contextual and everyone has a different idea of what time wasting is,” he said. “But I don’t think there can be an argument against it. Time wasting, along with diving, is something that cheats punters.
“Adding on time for goal celebrations will be difficult. It is meant to be a joyous event. It will be a bit curmudgeonly to be clamping down too much on that. But if it really is over-the-top then it should absolutely be addressed.
“I did think it was a bit excessive at the World Cup when 10 minutes or whatever was being added on at the end of the game. It was a wee bit too much. But an appropriate amount of time, within reason, should absolutely be added on for time wasting.
“Can you imagine there being another half an hour being added on at the end of a game on a soaking wet Tuesday night in December when fans have to get the last train home?
“But if the time is added on if players try to ruin games, to steal from the supporters in the stands, then it should ultimately enhance the spectacle and ensure games are allowed to flow more.
“Before the World Cup we all saw dozens of substitutions and players going down seriously injured who suddenly made miraculous recoveries. And not much time was being added on at the end of the game. It definitely had to be stamped out.”
Conroy added: “We should certainly consider it in this country. We tend not to be trailblazers in Scotland unfortunately. But in this instance it just makes sense.
“As I said, time wasting is stealing from ordinary punters and I don’t think that is acceptable. It might not work. But until you have a go nothing will ever change. If you don’t try it you will never know.
“I would hope it would stop players from wasting time and increase the amount of time the ball is in play. I suppose there is a danger that it is applied initially and they fall away from it.
“But if it is persistent and is done by every referee in every game then you would hope that players would cotton on and say: ‘I am not going to get away with it so why bother?’”
Kim Milton Nielsen, the former Danish referee who took charge of no fewer than 154 international matches and 53 Champions League games during a career that spanned 31 years, welcomes the attempt to deter players from time wasting and will watch the 2022/23 campaign in England with interest.
However, he has concerns about the potential impact of the new directives on games where VAR is in use and warned that the move could have damaging ramifications for footballers and increase the likelihood of them sustaining injuries.
The same measures were implemented during the World Cup last year and resulted in some of the encounters in Qatar lasting for well over 100 minutes – most infamously when England took on Iran in the group stages and there were 27 minutes of injury time.
“Sometimes there can be too much time added on at the end of a game,” said Nielsen. “When you add more than 10 minutes at the end of a game it can be a little bit strange and just too much. It could even be dangerous if it is too much and could cause trouble. I think you have to find something in between.
“VAR has already increased the amount of time that is added on at the end of game. In my opinion, there is always too much time added on. Of course, it should not be necessary to spend too much time reaching a clear decision. It should be done much faster. But the fact remains that games at the highest level are taking longer than before. This will not help that situation.”
He added: “But when you are a fan and you watch a football match in a stadium you need to see action. Otherwise it becomes boring. If you are watching it at home on television you have the opportunity to watch highlights and replays. But that is not the case when you are in the stadium. When you have two teams who are trying to destroy the game it is not good for the spectators.
“When players are under pressure late in the game they will always try to waste time. But if players can see that time is being added on at the end of game when they deliberately waste time it should be a clear signal for them. It should show them that there is no point in doing it.”
