One prominent FIFA official believes a decision taken by the officials in Liverpool’s 7-0 drubbing of Manchester United last week could have big consequences by the end of the season.
Andy Madley added only three minutes of stoppage time at the end a second half which featured six goals, four yellow cards and 10 substitutions.
Pierluigi Collina, chairman of the global governing body’s referees committee, has said the Yorkshire whistler erred in allowing what seemed a surprisingly short period of added time, highlighting its potential effect on the final standings.
As per The Times, the Italian said: “Last weekend, ten matches were played in the Premier League and four matches exceeded 100 minutes.
“Two of them should have been higher than this only because they were 7-0 and 4-0 [Brighton v West Ham United] and the referee probably decided not to consider the additional time be given accurately.
“Six goals were scored in the second half [at Anfield]. I can understand that giving quite a relevant amount of additional time when it is 7-0 is difficult to understand in this specific match.
“But if the regulations of the competition say that the entire goal difference is relevant for the ranking at the end even one goal scored or not scored can make the difference.”
Collina has also hinted that, in such situations, FIFA could implement a ‘mercy rule’ whereby stoppage time is not added on at the end of 90 minutes if the margin between teams exceeds a certain number of goals in a match.
As difficult as the season has been for Liverpool, it seems unlikely that we’ll be negatively affected by league placing by virtue of goal difference.
Prior to today’s clash at Bournemouth, the Reds have a +19 record in that regard, the third-best in the top flight behind Arsenal and Manchester City.
Such was the glee among Kopites during the second half last Sunday that complaints over the stoppage time played would have been minimal, if indeed there were any at all.
The consequences of how much time is added on by officials will only become clear when the final table settles on 28 May, but hopefully we can garner enough points between now and then so that our top-four fate doesn’t come down to a fight for goal difference.