Ahead of the big kick-off the refereeing bodies in England and Scotland have announced directives which could see more ball-in-play time in the season ahead.
That could be good new for punters as well as fans.
During the World Cup in Qatar we witnessed some significant added time at the end of both halves of matches and that looks set to be implemented in the 2023/24 season following announcements from POGMOL and the SFA’s Head of Referee Operations, Crawford Allan.
The former whistler confirmed that referees will be instructed to deal with time-wasting by adding extra minutes after the regulation 90.
He’s expecting time to be added for celebrations, substitutions, VAR decisions and injuries. The Premiership has also introduced a compulsory multi-ball system for every match.
➡️ Two new dedicated VAR officials
➡️ New independent review panel
➡️ Improving decisions & speed
➡️ Dealing with time-wasting & dissentSFA Head of Referee Operations Crawford Allan on what has changed with VAR and how time-wasting will be dealt with during the new season ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/fqUDmSi87w
— Sky Sports Scotland (@ScotlandSky) August 3, 2023
Similarly POGMOL have released their instructions for when the additional time clock should start ticking in the EFL (and Premier League, which presumably also includes VAR delays).
- Goals & subsequent celebrations
- Substitutions
- Injuries & treatment time
- Red Cards (from offence to player leaving the field)
- Penalties (from offence to whistle for kick)
Obviously for punters this could mean some extra-time for your bet to land (or lose!) but you might want to consider some of the match time related markets.
Bet365, among others, offer markets on goals being scored after a certain minute of the match.
For example, for tomorrow’s match between Dundee and Motherwell the line is set at 72.59, giving you 17 minutes plus any additional time for a goal to be scored.
There’s also some potential for in-play bets, bookings, goals, corners and it could be an opportunity for punters to get a slight edge on the bookies if lots of added is anticipated in any given match.
In more general terms the aim is for the ball to be in play for more minutes, that of course means more chance of events happening. Will it lead to more goals? More cards? More Corners?
That all remains to be seen and it won’t be long for the bookies adjust their markets and odds accordingly but it’s certainly something worth keeping an eye on in the opening weeks of the season.
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