SEOUL– Taking its cues from this year’s FIFA World Cup, the South Korean football federation said Thursday it will be more generous with stoppage time at the end of each half starting next year.

The Korea Football Association (KFA) said its referees committee will award enough additional time to account for stoppage in action over 90 minutes. This will apply to domestic competitions.
At the World Cup in Qatar, several matches saw additional time of up to 10 minutes, as FIFA sought to discourage players from embellishing injuries upon soft contact and resorting to other tactics to eat up time and protect their team’s lead.

Also in an attempt to speed up the game, the KFA said referees will swallow their whistles on ticky tack fouls that don’t disrupt the flow of play.

According to the KFA, referees will also enhance their enforcement of rules against time-delaying moves, such as faking injuries and goalkeepers holding on to the ball for more than six seconds after a save.

Source: Yonhap News Agency