Football’s Duration and Tie – Breaking Methods

The standard game of football consists of two periods of 45 minutes each and is known as halves. When the ball is out of play then the each half runs continuously. A 15 – minute half – time break between the two halves is given. The end of the match is considered to be as full – time. The official timekeeper for the match is the referee.

The referee may make an allowance for time lost through substitutions, injured players requiring attention or any other kind of stoppages. The added time is usually known as additional time in FIFA documents. It is most commonly referred to as stoppage time or injury time. Loss time is also as synonym to it. The duration of stoppage time is by the discretion of the referee. Referee can signal the end of the match alone. Sometimes in matches, a fourth official is also appointed. The fourth official has got right to inform the players and spectators by holding up a board showing this number. An incident happened during a match between Stoke and Aston Villa in 1891 and it lead to the introduction of added time. Goals that are scored during those extra time periods are counted in the final score of the game.

By: Bhavna Sharma

Content: en.wikipedia.org