Impact of the revised stoppage-time regulation on the temporal and locomotor demands of professional football

This study examined the association between implementation of the revised stoppage-time regulation following the 2022 FIFA World Cup and the temporal and locomotor activity profile of professional football using multilevel hierarchical modeling. A total of 312 matches (624 team-level observations) from the 2022–2023 Turkish Super League season were analyzed, comparing prechange (Matchweeks 1–14) and postchange (Matchweeks 15–38) periods using linear mixed-effects models (LMM), with match location as a fixed covariate and team clustering as a random effect. Total match duration (100.10 ± 3.11 vs. 103.02 ± 4.07 min; F (1, 622) = 102.33, p < 0.001, d = 0.79), ball-in-play time ( F (1, 622) = 44.97, p < 0.001, d = 0.54), and offensive/defensive phase durations ( F (1, 622) = 6.64, p = 0.010, d = 0.20) increased significantly post-change. Total distance ( F (1, 622) = 105.80, p < 0.001, d = 0.79), moderate-intensity ( F (1, 622) = 46.80, p < 0.001, d = 0.51), high-intensity ( F (1, 622) = 12.39, p < 0.001, d = 0.28), and sprinting distances ( F (1, 622) = 21.90, p < 0.001, d = 0.35) also increased. Time-normalized total distance ( F (1, 622) = 6.21, p = 0.013, d = 0.21), moderate-intensity ( F ( 1, 622) = 11.45, p < 0.001, d = 0.28), and sprinting distances ( F (1, 622) = 7.85, p = 0.005, d = 0.22) remained significantly higher, whereas relative high-intensity running was unchanged ( F (1, 622) = 1.04, p = 0.308, d = 0.08). The revised regulation was associated with greater match volume and physical demands, including higher sprinting density. In conclusion, while the updated stoppage-time regulation effectively increases effective playing time, it imposes a heightened physical load—particularly elevated maximal-velocity density—requiring practitioners to recalibrate weekly periodization and late-match substitution strategies.