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McKenna: Referees Need to Be Mindful on Time-Wasting - Ipswich Town News

Town boss Kieran McKenna says referees need to be mindful of making sure fans see the ball in play with opposition time-wasting having been a major frustration for the Blues this season, particularly at Portman Road.

All too regularly visiting players have regularly taken to the turf suffering convenient injuries in the second half of matches in order to break up the flow of the game.

More widely, FIFA has proposed the introduction of ‘effective playing time’ rules - tracking how many minutes the ball is in play, setting a limit to ensure that that amount of football is played during a game - with a CIES Football Observatory study having shown that on average the ball was in play only 60.2 per cent of time in the Champions League.

Asked about the debate around time-wasting, one which has been ongoing among Town supporters for most of the season, McKenna was asked whether he believes there should be rule changes in order to keep the ball in play for more of a match.

"I think you have to understand that football is a spectacle and everyone has to respect that and the people who come to pay to watch a football match,” he said.

"And I think that’s responsibility of all the clubs to provide that and to provide a spectacle and make sure there’s a level there for the supporters who come to games.

"On top of that, everyone wants to win and teams are within their rights to try and use different means if they think that’s going to help them get a result.

"I’m not sure about rule changes, but I think it’s something certainly that the referees and the fourth official especially need to be really mindful of and try and manage well in games.

"I think it’s really important that they continue to do that to try and manage the flow of the game so that the supporters who are coming to pay to see the match, they get to see a football match and they get to see the ball in play for a good amount of time and they get to see action.

"I’m not sure there need to be rule changes but it’s certainly something that referees and officials need to be very mindful of.”

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