In the world of international soccer, the discussion about the change of the World Cup system has been rising and falling. Following a proposal to shorten the World Cup cycle to once every two years, FIFA recently threw a surprising move - according to internal sources, FIFA is plotting to extend the length of the game from the traditional 90 minutes to 100 minutes, and is expected to be implemented for the first time in this year's World Cup in Qatar. However, just as the news was making the rounds, FIFA officials quickly disproved the rumor, saying that future matches will continue to be played in the conventional length of time.
According to the Gazzetta dello Sport, FIFA President Nfatianu is actively exploring the possibility of extending the legal time for matches, and is even considering extending it to a longer period of time. At the same time, there is also news that FIFA will give the referee more power to increase the extra time. It is worth noting that in recent years, the actual playing time of soccer matches has shown a year-on-year trend of decreasing. According to statistics, the average game time of European leagues is only 64.7%, the English Premier League is down to 62%, and the rate of the Championship League is even as low as 57.2%. In the face of this status quo, FIFA hopes to improve the game through the reform of the ornamental.
However, just on Thursday (7), FIFA took to social media platforms to quickly clarify: "Recent reports and rumors about the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar, or any other soccer tournament where the legal time of matches will change, are hereby denied by FIFA. With regard to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, or any other soccer event, there will be no change in the length of the legal time for matches."
