According to the data of Lega Serie A , the average duration of each match of the last 2017-2018 season was 95 minutes and 19 seconds even if, after all the interruptions, the actual playing time was only 51 minutes and 8 seconds . A little more than 53% of the available minutes was played. But if you think of an all-Italian problem, it is not exactly like this: in the Premier League the actual time is 56 minutes and 35 seconds, in the Bundesliga 56 minutes and 31 seconds, while in the Spanish Liga it is 53 minutes and 18 seconds.
Football is changing drastically and it is inevitable to follow the flow of the times: from spray canssupplied to the referees to respect the distances, to the precious goal-line technology up to the mother of all the revolutions of the modern era: the introduction of the Var, the Video Assistant Referee , the “slow motion” so dear to the national Biscardi, essential technological help for the referee himself.
And the times are necessarily extended compared to the football of only five or six years ago : the check of the referee who reviews an action from the monitor to convince himself of a penalty or an expulsion, the confrontation with the assistant to reassure himself on a delicate decision, the wait necessary to review the replays, affect the pace of the race. Which, beware, is absolutely not a bad thing.
The 90 minutes, however, begin to be tight and the minutes of recovery cannot be an effective response as shown by the three daring matches played in the 15th round of Serie A: the 2-2 final of Cagliari – Rome was decided at 96 ‘with Sau’s goal after there have previously been two expulsions (that of Ceppitelli and Srna) four minutes after 90’; same result, same fiery final for Lazio – Sampdoria with Immobile who transforms the penalty in the 96th minute and Saponara who finds again the equal to nine minutes beyond the regular time; and to close the pyrotechnic draws, the 3-3 between Sassuolo and Fiorentina has the same plot and the same ending : Mirallas scores in the 96th minute.And what about Frosinone’s 3-2 over Parma on matchday 30 with Ciofani’s penalty scored in the 103rd minute after a very long consultation (10 minutes) between referee Manganiello and Var assistants
Chris Nawrat and Steve Hutchings, in the book “The Sunday Times Illustrated History of Football” of 1996 tell the anecdote that led to the introduction of injury time, in 1892, during a game between Stoke and Aston Villa , and today used and reported by the referee on the basis of number of substitutions, interruptions due to injuries and which usually ranges from one minute to three to four minutes:in that game Stoke, who were losing 1-0, had won a penalty two minutes from the end, but Aston Villa goalkeeper William Dunning kicked the ball off the pitch and before it could be found there the referee was forced to decree the end of the match, as the 90th minute had already passed .
What if, therefore, effective playing time were introduced.
In some sports, the stopwatch is suspended during the time-out or partially as occurs in American football. In 5-a-side football, on the other hand, the clock is interrupted every time the game is stopped or to take a throw-in or when the ball goes out to the end or when a foul is called.
Who knows what Renato Cesarini would think of all this …
