Referee whistles / Image: Action Images via Reuters
Zurich. The duration of the half-time break in football is being scrutinized. The responsible rulers of the International Football Association Board (Ifab) want to deal with it on October 27th. This emerges from the agenda of the online meeting of the “Football and Technology Advisory Board”, which was published on Friday.
The discussion point was initiated by the South American association. Comnebol boss Alejandro Domínguez had recently written a letter to Fifa President Gianni Infantino. With a view to finals such as the final of the Copa Libertadores at the end of November in Montevideo between the two Brazilian clubs Palmeiras São Paulo and Flamengo Rio de Janeiro, the association proposes an extension of the half-time break from 15 to 25 minutes.
“A longer half-time break would enable a better show for the fans in the stadium and in front of the TV sets, as is already the case in other sports,” the letter said. An example of this is the halftime show at the finals of the Super Bowl in American football in the USA. “In addition, the players would have more opportunities to relax and the coaches more time to give more precise adjustments or more precise instructions, which would also increase the quality of the game.”
Rejected once
Currently, the time between the final whistle of the first half and the kick-off of the second half must not exceed 15 minutes. Twelve years ago, a proposal by the world association Fifa to extend the break to 20 minutes was rejected and rated as a commercial step.
Other agenda items at the Ifab meeting include the currently increased number of possible changes due to Corona and a study on concussions in football.
