Cardiff v Burnley marked a seven-year Premier League low after ball was in play for 42mins 2secs
Tuesday 2 October 2018 12:57, UK
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) is continuing to look into various ways of increasing the amount of playing time in matches after a seven-year Premier League low on Sunday.
IFAB's "Play Fair" initiative launched last year to see how technology and other sports could help keep football current.
One of their key targets is to increase the amount of time the ball is in play, which follows Cardiff's match with Burnley on Sunday, when the ball was in play for 42 minutes and two seconds.
More than eight of those 48 out-of-play minutes were spent waiting for Cardiff captain Sean Morrison to take throw-ins, according to The Times, and IFAB is looking into a number of methods to cut down such delays.
A huge change that has been debated, although is far from favoured by most, is changing football from two 45-minute periods with stoppage time to two 30-minute halves, where the clock is stopped every time the ball goes dead.
That would mean the playing time of a football match is exactly an hour but, similar to NFL, a game could take a lot longer due to various delays.
It could also have a greater impact on players' wellbeing as it could mean more playing time.
The less controversial measures being looked at include things like allowing a goalkeeper to take a goal kick when the ball is moving, allowing a player to pass to themselves at free-kicks and corners, and to have visible stadium clocks so everyone is aware if play is being delayed often.
One measure that has been put forward for testing is making a player leave the pitch at their nearest boundary instead of having to walk to the touchline.
More information on IFAB's "Play Fair" initiative can be read here.
