As it did last year with in-stadium refereeing clarifications, the DFL has announced a new reform aimed at provided Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga fans inside stadiums with greater clarity. The league body responsible for administering Germany’s top two professional footballing divisions plans to display up-to-the-second stoppage time on stadium screens in the new 2026 calendar year.
A DFL spokesperson speaking to the Funke media group confirmed that the DFL is expected to confirm the reform at a December general meeting and introduce the new feature effective January 1st, 2026. As of yet, there hasn’t been any official comment on the change by any professional DFB match officials.
Presumably, referees will now be responsible for reporting up-to-the-second stoppage time to the fourth official. Somehow, this will then be relayed to both the stadium announcer and the staff responsible for operating the in-stadium screens. One can divine some potential stumbling blocks with the proposal.
Assuming that referees are still allowed to add additional seconds for further interruptions during stoppage time, will fans become increasingly irate when the match extends beyond the precise number of seconds indicated?
Match officials might also find themselves under additional pressure to meticulously catalogue the extra seconds in stoppage time as they will be carefully scrutinized after the match.
In any event, if the proposal is approved as reported and implemented in a couple of short months, it shall prove interesting to observe in practice.
The refereeing clarifications over the stadium PA has delivered mixed results thus far, with some fans complaining that it only further prolongs VAR delays.
