There’s An Old School MLS Solution For World Cup Stoppage Time Gripes

Of all the early developments at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the most significant for the future of the game may be the surprising amount of stoppage time officials have been adding game to game.

Under guidance from FIFA, tournament referees have lengthened the end of halves and games to an historic extent so far, with halves sometimes being stretched by as much as 15 minutes or 33%. And as a result, some are resurfacing the idea of introducing an in-stadium clock that stops at the referee’s discretion, so players and managers at least know how much more time to prepare for.

It’s a fair sentiment. But it’s also worth remembering that Major League Soccer once tried something similar, albeit for a different reason.

When MLS launched in 1996 to give the United States its first top-flight outdoor league since the NASL folded 12 years earlier, it included several features designed to make the sport more appealing to casual American sports fans.

The most fondly remembered is probably the one-on-one breakaway style shootout to decide league games tied at full time, with the winner earning one point and the loser going without any. There was also a best-of-three playoff series format, and because of the dimensions of venues that were built as American football stadiums, the allowance for teams to use pitches far narrower than current FIFA recommendations of 70 yards.

And to the point, the clock in MLS matches in 1996 defied the international model and mirrored other popular American sports, counting down from 45:00 to 0:00 in each half. When there was a significant stoppage of play, the referee made a signal to the time keeper to stop the clock. And when the clock hit zero, play immediately halted.

It took 10 years for MLS to fully go away from its unique rules and adopt the International Football Association Board’s laws of the game. But the count-down clock lasted only through 1999, and in its lifespan showed plenty of limitations.

The most surprising might be that, while it theoretically could make time keeping more faithful to stoppages in play, in actuality it probably shortened games. Referees were relatively conservative with then they made the signal to the time keeper to stop the clock, typically only doing so for lengthier breaks. That’s not in keeping with what the laws of the game say, which is that stoppage time should be assessed for any of the following causes (direct quote from IFAB’s laws):

• substitutions
• assessment and/or removal of injured players
• wasting time
• disciplinary sanctions
• medical stoppages permitted by competition rules e.g. ‘drinks’ breaks (which should not exceed one minute) and ‘cooling’ breaks (ninety seconds to three minutes)
• delays relating to VAR ‘checks’ and ‘reviews’
• any other cause, including any significant delay to a restart (e.g. goal celebrations)

Additionally, the count-down clock led to a difference in how the end of halves and games played out. Specifically, teams pushing for a tying or a winning goal late had to keep an eye on the clock because the game literally ended the moment it struck 0:00. In the current form of keeping time, it’s generally understood that referees will allow an attack to continue through completion even if technically stoppage time should be complete.

But those timing rules are still used in high school and college soccer in the U.S. (where they predate MLS), and could be a guidepost if there was truly momentum toward having an in-stadium clock that more closely reflects the referees watch.

And with the technology available now at the professional level, they are likely to work better now than they did more than two decades ago. Clock stoppages could be indicated through the voice communication devices match officials routinely wear, or perhaps even controlled by a handheld device the referee caries during the game.

And there are ways to avoid the awkward sudden ending that occured in MLS. One option is to have two simultaneous clocks on display, one that represents elapsed time and one that represent the referees’ watch. When the first one hits 45 or 90 minutes, they will freeze — much as they do now — leaving the control of the final minutes still in charge of only the referee.

Of course, the complaint of excessive stoppage time might also sort itself. In Tuesday’s matches, the time added on to the games between Denmark and Tunisia, between Mexico and Poland and between France and Australia was within more routine parameters. If referees keep good on their word of compensating more stringently for stoppages, the stoppages themselves may decrease..

Not only will it curb time wasting, it could also make high pressing — which leads to more fouls, more errant touches and more stoppages by its nature — less appealing because of the extra energy required to play longer games.