UEFA reject ‘absurd’ Premier League rule which has implications for Man Utd, Arsenal, Man City and Newcastle
The newly implemented Premier League rule change, which aligns with FIFA’s approach to added time in the 2022 World Cup, has been criticized by UEFA’s director of football, Zvonimir Boban, who has described it as ‘absurd.’
Boban suggests that this rule is unlikely to be adopted in European competitions.
This change involves officials adding the precise time lost due to goal celebrations, substitutions, injuries, penalties, and red cards to the regular 90 minutes of play, resulting in a significant increase in stoppage time during recent Premier League matches.
Nonetheless, UEFA has voiced its disapproval of this rule alteration.
As per The Times, Boban said: “It’s absolutely absurd. Regarding player welfare, it’s some kind of small tragedy or big tragedy because we are adding almost 12, 13, 14 minutes, which are very tough minutes to play.
“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, 12, 14 minutes of the game.”
He added: “How often we have spoken critically about the calendar and too many games. We are not listening to players and coaches. In England you know something even more than us because you have more games.
“And now we add to them, probably six, seven minutes more per game – over 65 games that is almost 500 minutes more per season. That is six games. It’s crazy. It’s too much so we will not do this. We will follow our guidelines.”
Based on his comments, it appears unlikely that this rule will be implemented in the Champions League, Europa League, or Conference League for the upcoming season.
In the previous season of the Champions League, the average time the ball spent in play exceeded 60 minutes. Roberto Rosetti, UEFA’s head of referees, mentioned that they began working on this rule change more than five years ago.
“There is something more important than the accuracy of additional time. Why do people like the Champions League so much? Because it’s intensive, it’s fantastic, the players never stop.
UEFA reject ‘absurd’ Premier League rule which has implications for Man Utd, Arsenal, Man City and Newcastle
