FIFA have hit back at rumours that surfaced on Wednesday, claiming that they were looking at making changes ahead of the 2022 tournament at Qatar in November.
As per Italian outlet Corriere Dello Sport, there were suggestions that there could be changes to make games 100 minutes long, rather then 90, to make up for the amount of time that the ball spends out of play. They cite an investigation carried out by CIES that recently discovered that in an average Champions League match, the ball tends to only be in play for around 60% of the time (54 minutes).
This led to speculation that measures may be taken to alter this, and make the competition more “modern-viewer friendly”, as all recently proposed changes to the sport seem to claim to be doing (the Super League, the World Cup every two years to name just two).
However, FIFA have now clarified the situation and confirmed that no regulation changes will be made for the tournament or any other FIFA competition.
Taking to Twitter, they wrote:
‘Following some reports and rumours spread today, FIFA would like to clarify that there will be no changes to the rules regarding the length of football matches for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™️ or any other competition.’
FIFA Statement
Following some reports and rumours spread today, FIFA would like to clarify that there will be no changes to the rules regarding the length of football matches for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™️ or any other competition.
— FIFA Media (@fifamedia) April 6, 2022
FIFA Groups announced
Earlier this month, the World Cup groups were announced, which you can see here.
It pits England against the USA, who shocked them in 2010 by holding them to a 1-1 draw in Bloomfontein, as well as Uruguay against Ghana, who were controversially knocked out by the South Americans in the quarter finals of the same competition.
While the competition continues to raise eyebrows, there will certainly be some good football to tune in to.
