Why is there so much stoppage time at the end of some of the matches at the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar?

The 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar will be remembered for many weird, wonderful and not so wonderful things - one of them being the adding on of lengthy stoppage time at the end of both the first and second halves.

England kicked off their World Cup campaign with a convincing 6-2 victory over Iran. Lost amongst the unfolding of the eight goal thriller was the fact the referee added almost 30 minutes of stoppage time at the end of both halves.

Lengthy stoppage time has not been limited to just England games. Saudi Arabia had to defend a 2-1 lead over Argentina until the final whistle was eventually blown in the 104th minute.

So why all of a sudden are we seeing matches run well beyond the established 90 minutes? There’s no one variable wholly responsible for all of the stoppage time but rather a combination of factors, including referees being under strict instructions from Fifa to stamp out “unnatural lost time”.

Why is there so much stoppage time at the 2022 World Cup?

Fifa has introduced a new directive designed to negate what it describes as “unnatural lost time” in a match. Unnatural lost time can manifest itself in a variety of different ways such as substitutions; time wasting; goal celebrations; referees consulting the Video Assistant Referee (VAR); treatment of injured players and when players receive yellow and red cards.

Iconic former referee and incumbent chairman of the FIFA referees committee, Pierluigi Collina warned before the World Cup started in Qatar that no one should be surprised if they see fourth officials consistently announce a “big number” concerning stoppage time at the end of both halves.