Blog

Also known as added time or stoppage time is implemented by the match officials, especially by the referee help the fourth official compensate for lost time during a football match. The time is usually added at the end of each half in which each half goes for 45 minutes, these few minutes added can cause significant changes in the result of a match. A minimum of one minute is usually added as injury time but there is no upper limit for the stoppage time.

The longest stoppage time to be added in football history was during a Carabao Cup between Burton Albion and Bournemouth in September 2019 where the officials added a further 28 minutes of the play. During the match, the floodlights went out due to an electrical failure and the players went to their dressing rooms it took 24 minutes for the play to resume.

Note that there is a difference between injury time and extra time. While injury time is applied at the end of each half, extra time is added only after the full 90 minutes and added time has passed and the score is still tied. Extra time is commonly used only during knockout matches like finals where there has to be a winner, extra time is usually 30 minutes divided into two halves of 15 minutes each and an additional time added to it if need be. If the teams are still level after the extra time a penalty shootout is then taken.

Determining injury/added/stoppage time in football

There are several things to consider when the official decides to add certain minutes as added time during a match which are:

• Substitutions were made during the match.
• Disciplinary sanctions on a player.
• Delays added during VAR checks.
• Time is wasted by players.
• Removal of injured players and treatments made on the pitch.
• Water breaks are sometimes allowed by the rules.
• Penalties since it takes long enough for a particular team to take the penalty.
• Bookings such as red cards for the player to get off the pitch.
• Goals and subsequent celebrations.
• Arguments with the referee.

In many leagues, the fourth official raises the board at the end of the match to indicate the umber of meetings added.

A new policy by FIFA seeks to clamp out time wastage. As such, in the 2022 World Cup, it was not unusual for injury times to go past 10 minutes.

Injury time is not the same as extra time.