Time wasting during 90 minutes - ok or not ?

[hopelesslyoptimistic]

I think this is completely true near the end of the match. If one team sets out to "frustrate" the other by time wasting from the outset however, it is a psychological ploy, and it doesn't matter how much longer the match actually goes. Its to hinder free flow and annoy the opponent, which is in my opinion, rather unsportsmanlike. Its akin to taking the ball to opposing corner flag from the kickoff.

Agreed - a lot of ex players who are now pundits have for years endorsed the concept of a professional foul as if it is part of the game which has allowed the slow incremental creep of other forms of cheating to become almost accepted.

The sporting bodies and referees need to clamp down on it. The NFL seems to be quite good at clamping down on things that become issues and Hockey (not ice hockey) seems to enforce rules consistently to try to keep the game fast and flowing.

The refs should have a consistent script they use to brief teams before the game and give a couple of warnings with free kicks and then brandish cards - it would stop pretty quickly.

If it was still a problem they could have a system where if a team accrues so many yellow cards for time wasting etc then other sanctions including points deductions could apply.

I just don’t think they are that bother about addressing it at the moment.

Some might also argue it’s part of the game and teams need to work out how to deal with it - I don’t really agree with that though as given the huge sums of money involved they need to recognise it is as much entertainment as sport.

[Billyni]

The ability to make 5 substitutions can be a bit time consuming as well if you're smart enough.