The party of football has already started with the Qatar 2022 World Cup, and all the fans of the king sport are expectant of the matches played in the first round; however, there is a detail that has not gone unnoticed by the television audience in the first confrontations that have taken place: the additional minutes.
In each of the matches, over 100 minutes have been played due to added time at the end of each half:
Minutes added in the matches
- Qatar vs. Ecuador: 10 minutes (5+5)
- England vs. Iran: 28 minutes (14+10*)
- Senegal vs. Iran: 10 minutes (2+8)
- United States vs. Wales: 13 minutes (4+9)
*4 more minutes were added in the second half.
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Why have so many minutes been added in the World Cup?
Days before the start of the tournament, Pierluigi Collina, head of the FIFA refereeing body, explained that greater severity was demanded of referees when adding minutes in the first and second half.
Pierluigi Collina was a FIFA referee and is now head of the refereeing body. Photo: AFP
"We have asked referees to be very strict and to add whatever is needed to compensate for time delays. 4 years ago, added times of 6 or 7 minutes started to become customary," he mentioned in a press conference.
"We want to avoid matches with only 42 or 43 minutes of effective playing time. So we will have to compensate for substitution time, penalties, celebrations, medical assistance, or VAR," pointed out the former FIFA referee.
This would be the answer to the question. The referees are required to increase the necessary amount of minutes to play the regulation time, which is lost due to different situations that occur on the field: complaints, celebrations, substitutions, etc.