Niall Sloane, the head of sport at UK commercial broadcaster ITV, has urged Fifa, football’s world governing body, to ensure matches start on time during the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, according to BBC News.
Sloane said that game overruns had disrupted scheduling during previous tournaments and made it difficult for commercial broadcasters to organise their advertisement breaks.
“We need a rigorous examination of the timetables,” Sloane said. “We need to know exactly when teams come onto the pitch, when the national anthems will start.”
Sloane compared kick-off delays at past World Cups with those of the Champions League, which is organised by football’s European governing body Uefa and is another tournament shown live on ITV.
“With the Champions League everything is pre-set, we know exactly when the teams are going to walk out of the tunnel before every game,” he said.