Columns It’s time for football to get rid of its worst plague – there’s a simple cure for it

Calf cramps, and the player sits on the grass with the help of the signers. The opponent respects the rules of the football gentleman and kicks the ball out of the field. The medical team will stretch the base.

After a while a little contact, and again you need medical staff.

Then the ball over the end limit. The goalkeeper retrieves the ball by walking, sets it up for a moment, “considers” a short pass first, but then points the teammates higher on the field. Examines the passing directions and finally shoots the ball into play.

Liverpool and Real Madrid will face off in the Champions League final today, and similar situations will certainly be seen if either lead by a goal difference towards the end of the match.

Is it a raging gamble or an “skill” that is an integral part of football?

Right now, both of that, but should that be the case?

British Broadcasting Corporation BBC According to Statistics Opta, the ball played in the English Premier League for an average of 55 minutes and three seconds. The actual playing time of football is 90 minutes, and there will always be extra time on top.

At its lowest, the ball has been in the Premier League for only 41 minutes and 33 seconds this season when West Ham and Brentford faced last October. The ball was clearly in play in less than half of the match.

The situation is no more rosy in other major European series.

In French Ligue 1, the ball was in play for 56 minutes and 17 seconds, in Italian Serie A 54.43, in the German Bundesliga 54.23 and in the Spanish La Liga only 53.21. In the Champions League, the ball was played 56.54.

There is a solution to this situation: efficient playing time.

Former Chief Referee, Italian Pierluigi Collina In April, he told the International Football Association (FIFA) and the rules – making body, Ifab, about reflections on effective playing time.

“8-9 minutes for boundary throws, equal number of goal kicks… Goalkeepers were forbidden to take their own player’s hand years ago just to avoid such things,” says Collina Football Italian by.

According to him, 60 minutes is currently considered a good length for effective playing time.

“Few people think it takes an average of about a minute and a half to celebrate one goal. It is not usually added to the duration of the match in the same way as the time spent on injuries. ”

Collina offers a significant extension of the extra time as one option, but it would not eliminate the gamble of time, it could only be seen more.

What effective playing time then would mean in practice?

Simply put, the game clock would stop when the ball was not in play. That is, when the referee whistles, the clock will stop, as will the ball crossing the field.

The clock would start when the ball was in play again, i.e. it would move within the boundaries of the field.

Today, the duration of a match event is usually just under two hours, and effective playing time would hardly change that significantly.

Of course, there are also issues to be resolved.

How exactly should the clock be able to stop the ball when crossing the boundaries?

If one could accept a tolerance of one tenth of a second, this would hardly be a problem. If the accuracy of fractions of a second is required, the technology places too many restrictions.

What about the paint to be canceled after watching a video, preceded by an offense or a breakdown? The game clock should be rewound to the time of the violation or assumed extra flag.

Would it change the nature of the game?

Just a little. In a losing position, it would no longer be as urgent to give a free or corner kick, for example. There would be no need for procrastination and exaggeration in the lead. One tactical element would of course go away, but the change would force teams to play time differently, for example, by holding the ball while consuming seconds – that is, to play.

The only significant change in the nature of the game would really concern the final moments of the match.

Football has included the fact that a team seeking a goal at the last minute is allowed to play until the end of its “last” attack, even if the extra time given has been exceeded.

Although the practice varies slightly, the referee will never whistle for a match to end, for example, in the middle of a clear goal building or a force attack.

For example, if playing time were set at 60 minutes, there would be no flexibility. Otherwise, we would only be on the verge of new interpretations – and disputes.

Sure is that few viewers want to pay for an admission ticket or open a television to see the gameplay, no matter how “skilled” it is.

Top football could be even better if one of the most annoying aspects of the game were to be eliminated.

If there is a desire, change will succeed.

Champions League final Liverpool – Real Madrid, MTV3 and C More Sport 2 at 21.45.