Players in the English Football League believe longer amounts of stoppage time this season are causing more injuries, according to a Professional Footballers’ Association survey.
England’s refereeing body PGMOL has opted to use more additional time in order to reduce time-wasting and better account for goal celebrations, substitutions and injuries.
However, almost 60 per cent of 100 Championship, League One and League Two players surveyed said they were against the extension to stoppage time.
Longer added time was first implemented by Fifa at the most recent editions of the men’s and women’s World Cups and subsequently adopted in England following a directive from football’s lawmakers Ifab.
However, critics in the Premier League have included Manchester City midfielder Kevin de Bruyne and Manchester United defender Raphael Varane.
And concerns relating to the workload on players have also now been revealed by the PFA survey. In addition to the almost 60% who believe injuries are more likely and a similar figure against the change, three quarters of EFL players said they felt they were not given a proper break between seasons.
A further group of “more than 60 per cent” also felt a lack of rest and recovery time was resulting in players getting injured more often.
The survey also found that less than 20 per cent felt enough was being done to identify those responsible for pitch invasions, harassment of players and discriminatory chanting, while players were split on whether the video assistant referee (VAR) system being introduced below the Premier League.
“The intention of a project like this is to identify areas where we need to work collaboratively with those who run the game, and to ensure that the views of players are heard and acted on,” said PFA chief executive Maheta Molango.
“Issues around player workload continue to be raised by players at all levels, whether that’s Virgil van Dijk and Raphael Varane speaking about the work we are doing with them to address the uncontrolled growth of the fixture calendar, or EFL members telling us that, overwhelmingly, they are not getting suitable rest and recovery between seasons.
“This will continue to be a priority for us, but where there are already rights in place to protect players, it’s important that they are aware of them.
“It’s equally important for us as a union to know when players may feel they need support enforcing such rights.”
An EFL Spokesperson told BBC Sport: “Player welfare is a priority for all the game’s stakeholders.
“We note the findings of the member survey, and we look forward to discussing the specific details behind the results with the PFA.”
