[Steve_Seattle]

"The ref is supposed to do that, AFAIK. He's the official timekeeper."

And that's the problem. It should be like American football, i.e., let the ref stop the play when deemed necessary, but then stop the official, public clock, rather than let the ref keep track of it on his private watch. Notice that the official stoppage time is always in full minutes? That cannot be accurate.

[gusty]

The MLS tried it in their first season, and it did not work. When the players can see the actual time, the game dies at the end. When you’re down 2 goals and you know for certain there is only 40 secs left, both teams stop playing. When the ref keeps time, and he is the only one who knows, the players will play to the whistle. Plus the ref will allow an attacking team to complete a late attack before blowing a whistle. The ref will wait to see if there is a score or a clearance before ending the game, usually with the ball in midfield. There is no blowing of whistles while a shot is in progress at a high level, thou you will see that at the HS level from refs who I believe have never seen a pro game.