Home bias and referee bias in European football: The role of stoppage time allocation

Tom Böttger and Lars Vischer

No 1/2026, Discussion Papers of the Institute for Organisational Economics from University of Münster, Institute for Organisational Economics

Abstract: Football referees possess substantial discretion in allocating stoppage time, a decision that is comparatively opaque yet potentially consequential for match outcomes. This paper examines whether stoppage time allocation contributes to home advantage in contemporary European professional football. Using a dataset of 18,085 matches across the 2014/15-2023/24 seasons, we analyse first- and second-half stoppage time separately. Our results indicate that first-half stoppage time is largely explained by interruptions and shows no systematic dependence on match context. In contrast, second-half stoppage time is strongly context-dependent: close matches receive more stoppage time on average, no matter whether the home team is leading or trailing.

Keywords: Bias; Football; Home Advantage; Referee; Stoppage Time (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C20 D91 L83 Z20 Z21 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:zbw:umiodp:336784

DOI: 10.17879/60948678701

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