Premier League could take cue from Qatar World Cup with 100-minute matches

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By Martin Graham | 7th Mar 2023

The Premier League could be set for 100-minute games, inclusive of extra time, in line with a successful approach from FIFA at the World Cup in Qatar.

At the Qatar World Cup, 43 out of 62 games hit the 100-minute mark, with England’s opening game against Iran setting the tone by lasting a mammoth 117 minutes. All of the circumstances that contributed to added time include injuries, substitutions, VAR decisions, penalties and red cards, as well any time-wasting antics by the players.

The latter is particularly a growing trend in the Premier League right now, with a number of teams deciding to run the clock down and wasting far too much time on expected for goal kicks, set plays and throw ins. This tends to be the case when a side are ahead or hoping to protect a precious point.

Premier League to implement FIFA style

However, according to the Times, football lawmakers Ifab will copy the style used by FIFA from next season in a bid to see that matches will be played for longer. The directive means that 100-minute games may become ‘common’ in the English leagues next season, including the EFL and non-league.

After the success of FIFA’s plan at the World Cup to add more minutes on, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said that there will be keen focus on leagues across the world would be monitored to make sure they are following the laws of the game correctly.

Speaking after the annual meeting of the International FA Board (Ifab) in London, Infantino said: “We want to fight against time-wasting, we want the fans to enjoy the game, we have seen at the last World Cup on average we had a bit more than ten minutes additional time, and around 60 minutes of effective time being played.

“It has been widely appreciated by everyone and the laws of the game are universal and we have to make sure they are universally implemented.

“We have seen a very inconsistent application of these laws of the game when it comes to time-wasting, and some leagues have matches lasting less than 50 minutes, and others have around 60 minutes now. We will monitor leagues all over the world. But we are not changing the laws of the game, and there will be no stoppage clock.”

The news also comes after Erik ten Hag was visibly pissed and labelled Newcastle as “annoying” before the Carabao Cup final after both sides played out to a goalless draw at Old Trafford earlier in the season.

Meanwhile, Pep Guardiola also hit out at Premier League referees before his side’s clash against Newcastle and said his team have been treated unfairly when it comes to time-wasting.