People are just realising why World Cup matches have so much additional time

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    Football fans were left scratching their heads when England's clash with Iran saw 24 minutes of added time on Monday afternoon.

    Ten minutes were easy to explain, after a sickening clash of heads saw Alireza Beiranvand undergo a lengthy concussion check – before he was allowed to carry on, only to be subbed minutes later. However, the additional ten minutes in the second half baffled fans.

    More questions were raised when Wales' clash with the USA had nine minutes of added time. And the reason for the sudden change has been outlined by the chairman of FIFA's referee's committee, Pierluigi Collina.

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    Collina told ESPN: "We told everybody to not be surprised if they see the fourth official raising the electronic board with a big number on it, six, seven or eight minutes.

    "If you want more active time, we need to be ready to see this kind of additional time given. Think of a match with three goals scored. A celebration normally takes one, one and a half minutes, so with three goals scored, you lose five or six minutes.

    "What we want to do is accurately calculate the added time at the end of each half. It can be the fourth official to do that, we were successful in Russia [2018] and we expect the same in Qatar.

    What do you think about the long stoppage time? Let us know in the comments section

    "I am not talking about VAR intervention, this is something which is different and calculated by the Video Assistant Referee in a very precise way."

    The added scrutiny comes amid pressure to change football's halves from 45 minutes to stopped clock 30 minute periods.

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