A STUDY by the University of Stirling and University College Cork has found that football referees have a tendency to add unexplained additional time when results are on a knife edge.
Researchers analysed decisions made about additional time – also known as stoppage or injury time – across the 64 matches of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar and the 51 matches of the Euro 2024 championships.
The findings revealed that referees allowed play to go on for as much as two unexplained minutes, on average, in the second half of the game.
The researchers say the findings suggest that referee behaviour may not be entirely objective, especially during the World Cup games, where a one-goal increase in the margin between teams at 90 minutes would on average reduce the added time played by around a minute.
Researchers added that the results challenge whether standards are consistent across the sport – especially if the rules aren’t being followed by officials at the very highest level.
The findings come as new rules are being introduced for FIFA World Cup 2026 to address concerns of time-wasting in the game.
As the USA, Canada and Mexico gear up to host the FIFA World Cup 2026, the study suggests a need to improve officiating systems in football, and to consider whether standards are consistent across FIFA’s member federations.
The authors also propose the more radical step of removing the timekeeping task from the referee and using automated technology such as an artificial intelligence-powered stopwatch.
The research is believed to be the first academic study to rigorously quantify refereeing inconsistency in stoppage time at elite tournaments, both within and across different matches.
Additional time in football matches can decide competitions and define careers, particularly during the second half of play. When Michael Thomas scored for Arsenal in the 91st minute at Anfield, it crowned Arsenal instead of Liverpool as the English Football League champions for the 1988-89 season.
On the final day of the 2011-2012 Premier League season, Manchester City beat Queens Park Rangers 3-2 by scoring two goals during second-half additional time – securing their first English Premier League title.
Dr Carl Singleton of the University of Stirling Business School, and co-author of the study, said: “Our findings have implications within the game of football and across sport more broadly.
“While we found a reasonable degree of consistency in referee decisions, football’s governing body, FIFA, and the International Football Association Board could alter the existing rules to provide greater transparency in how additional time is being calculated, which would reduce pressure on referees.
“Another option would be to let significant stoppages result in the stopping of the clock, which happens in other sports such as rugby.
“This could be extended to goals, substitutions, and treatments, to minimise the amount of additional time actually played at the discretion of the referee.
“It may also discourage timewasting tactics or the feigning of injury, something football fans would no doubt welcome.”
Dr Singleton and his research colleagues have written about the issue in an article just published in The Conversation, in which they argue “no amount of rule-tightening will solve football’s issue with time-wasters until referees are properly supported to withstand the psychological pressure placed on them by players, team officials and fans during each game”.
Objective Calls Under the Spotlight: Referee Consistency and Behaviour on Football’s Biggest Stage is published in Journal of Sports Economics.
