UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has ruled out the potential of the European governing body adopting the new approach to additional time at the end of halves that’s been seen so far in the World Cup as part of a withering attack on FIFA.
Huge volumes of additional time has been a feature of this World Cup, with as many as ten minutes being added on at the end of games to account for stoppages for injuries, substitutions, goal celebrations and VAR.
Given Celtic’s predilection for keeping the ball in play for as much time as possible and getting the ball back into play quickly, such a change could have shielded the Hoops from time-wasting in domestic games, however Ceferin has emphatically denied that UEFA are planning to mirror FIFA’s new approach.
As reported by The Herald, he said: “FIFA did announce that they will calculate the lost time more strictly, but I have to admit that we are all surprised by such a long stoppage time in the opening matches.
“Medical interventions, frequent delays, increased number of substitutions and VAR affect the effective playing time, but I think the right measure should be found.
“In the Champions League, for example, about 60 minutes are played effectively without such compensations. I think that’s a good guideline. UEFA will definitely not follow this principle that FIFA applies in its tournament.”
Ceferin also voiced his issue with the scheduling of this World Cup, as well as further ruling out the potential for a European Super League.
He said: “The old proverb says that misfortune never comes alone. While the whole world was looking for a way out of the crisis caused by the pandemic, a handful of powerful people tried to take advantage of it and privatise elite football for their own selfish interests.
“They failed and always will. Because football is part of our culture and tradition – it belongs to everyone, to each of us. I am extremely proud of how the European football family has responded to both challenges. That synergy of UEFA, the Federation, leagues, clubs and fans is truly unique.”
“I am sure of one thing – the winter World Cup is not good for football and will not happen again, because it burdens the calendar of competitions and national leagues too much.”
No time-wasting silver bullet for dominant club sides like Celtic
Though it would have been interesting to see the effects of a more stringent approach to applying additional time from officials, it has felt pretty absurd just how much time has been added at this World Cup, with games regularly approaching 110 minutes in total length.
It will be interesting to see if reactions from some of the bigger and more influential clubs make UEFA have any second thoughts about ruling out FIFA’s directive, or if they look to adopt a stopped clock approach of their own given that it won’t just be Celtic who regularly face practised time-wasting as a way to break up their rhythm.
The added time has been one of the more memorable quirks of what has been a largely dull and forgettable tournament so far, as far as the quality of the matches go, as there have been a couple of shock results, with Celtic’s Daizen Maeda involved as Japan stunned Germany bested only by Saudi Arabia’s incredible win over Argentina.
In other news: Celtic’s European adversaries rave about Paradise atmosphere in new documentary
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