Egyptian Premier League tops ranking of most penalties awarded; English refs wait before they whistle

April 21 – Egyptian referees leading a ranking of leagues worldwide of the highest frequency of penalties awarded.

In the Egyptian Premier League is awarded every 172 minutes (not including injury time) compared to a global average of 271 minutes.

The ranking, compiled by the CIES Football Observatory, examines data from 75 leagues since 1 January 2020.

In Europe, Russian refs are the most whistle happy, awarding a penalty every 187 minutes. In the Big 5 European leagues, penalties are awarded most frequently in Italy’s Serie A (every 235 minutes) and France’s Ligue1 (every 245 minutes).

A penalty in the English Premier League is only awarded every 321 minutes while the EFL’s three leagues are at the bottom of the European ranking with penalties awarded after more than 400 minute intervals.

The Japanese J1 League (every 520 minutes) and J2 League (every 613 minutes) see the least number of penalties awarded globally.

“In terms of conversion rates, the world average is 77.1%. The maximum was recorded in the French Ligue 1 and the Qatar Stars League (82.2%), while the minimum was observed in the South African PSL (71.4%),” find the CIES report authors.

To see the full report, click here.

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