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Al Hilal v Al Nassr - Saudi Pro LeagueGetty Images Sport
Translated by

Al-Ahli in the dock: half of the Saudi league matches devoid of football

Originals
Saudi Pro League
Al Nassr FC
Al Ittihad
Al Hilal
Al Ahli
Saudi Arabia

Disastrous numbers in the Roshn League

The Saudi Roshn League produced a particularly exceptional situation last season, with around half of its matches played without the ball in play. Al-Ahli were the biggest culprit in that catastrophic state of affairs.

Saudi newspaper "Asharq Al-Awsat" put together a report using figures from the "Opta" statistics network, revealing the actual playing time of matches in last season's Roshn League.

Actual playing time refers to the time the ball was in play, excluding stoppages. That covers fouls, injuries, substitutions, set pieces, VAR reviews and delays in resuming play.

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  • Half of the Saudi league matches without a ball

    The ball was in play for just 51 minutes and 24 seconds on average across each of the 306 matches in the Saudi League last season, the report revealed.

    That figure comes despite matches lasting an average of 100 minutes and 6 seconds. Only around 51% of that time is actually played. The rest, 48 minutes and 42 seconds, is lost to stoppages.

    The full-season figures tell the same story. Last season's matches ran to a combined 30,630 minutes and 11 seconds, of which just 15,727 minutes and 35 seconds saw the ball in play. Roughly half.

    Put another way, the ball sat out of play for a total of 14,902 minutes and 36 seconds. That is the equivalent of the original playing time of 165 matches, plus a further 52 minutes.

  • The Saudi League heading for the worse

    The strange thing is that actual playing time in last season's Saudi league fell well short of the previous 2024-2025 campaign, when it hit 54 minutes and 47 seconds. That marks a drop of a full 3 minutes and 20 seconds.

    Such a decline is baffling, especially when FIFA keep bringing in new rules designed to claw back the playing minutes lost during matches.

  • The Saudi League: far from Europe's elite

    Set that figure against Europe's major leagues and it looks even worse. Not one of them dropped below 53% for actual playing time, leaving the Saudi league trailing by roughly 2%.

    France topped the pile with 55.9%, with Germany close behind on 55.5%. Spain and Italy shared 54.1%, while the English Premier League brought up the rear on 53.1%.

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  • Al-Ahli the worst in the Saudi League

    Al-Ahli produced the least actual playing time of any side in the Saudi league last season, an oddity given they chased the title into the closing rounds.

    The ball was in play for just 47 minutes and 15 seconds per match on average, more than four minutes below the Roshn League average.

    That gap looks stranger still when you consider the total time of Al-Ahli's matches averaged 102 minutes and 13 seconds, the highest figure in the Saudi league last season.

    Three of the five worst matches for actual playing time across the Roshn League featured Al-Ahli: against Al-Shabab (40 minutes and 16 seconds), Al-Khaleej (40 minutes and 34 seconds) and Al-Nassr (39 minutes and 28 seconds).

  • The worst Clásico of the season

    Al-Ahli's clean 2-0 win over Al-Nassr made for the worst Clasico of last season's Roshn League when it came to actual playing time.

    The game ran for a full 109 minutes. Yet the ball was only in play for 39 minutes and 28 seconds. That leaves more than an hour with no football at all.

  • The best Clásico of the season

    The other clasico, between Al-Hilal and Al-Ittihad, offered the most actual playing time of any match in last season's Saudi Pro League.

    That 1-1 draw produced 61 minutes and 54 seconds of ball-in-play time. No game topped it all season, and it ran more than 10 minutes above the competition's average.