Teams will always be ready to slow the game down until the authorities can make them think twice
he historian Peter Hennessy has argued that Britain relies upon what he called a “good chap theory of government”, under which the precise wording of its parliamentary rules and even the absence of a formal constitution remain largely irrelevant so long as the people in charge of stuff have the right kind of moral fibre.
Football might never have been closely associated with good chaps, but it works the same way. The nation’s fields have always been prowled by genuine rotters, individuals who have thoroughly deserved such terrifying nicknames as “Chopper”, “Psycho”, “Bites yer Legs” and “Keano”, and the sport’s lengthy list of laws has only ever kind of governed them. There is much that remains beyond the control of referees, most obviously the passage of time.Time-wasting is not a new issue.
In 1982 an all-star three-man committee – Bobby Charlton, Sir Matt Busby and Jimmy Hill – was tasked by the Football League with coming up with ideas to improve the game and homed in on time-wasting. Ironically its own time was being wasted, its suggested remedies being completely ignored. It is also an issue that in 1992 prompted the then Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, to produce a rare moment of genuine perspicacity.
Four Premier League games have lasted for less than half the time they were supposed to, clocking under 44 minutes of actual action. And though they might have been played in the same month and ended with the same scoreline the difference between the shortest top‑flight match so far this season (
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