Bolivian officials suspended after playing 42 minutes added time at end of match | OneFootball

Six officials from the Bolivian Primeira Division have been suspended after a staggering 42 minutes of added time were played in the recent clash between Atletico Palmaflor and Blooming.

The match was played on a partly flooded pitch at Estadio Municipal de Quillacollo, an issue that would later cause major difficulties.

However, there was no sign of the controversy that lay ahead when Gilbert Alvarez put the home side 2-0 up in the 82nd minute.

Palmaflor looked to be cruising towards a straightforward victory, before Blooming pulled a late goal back through Gaston Rodriguez Maeso.

The goal, which breathed new life into the game, required a ridiculously long VAR check for offside because of the dreadful conditions in which the match was being played.

Eventually, after a total of 17 minutes, the goal was allowed to stand and the contest resumed.

Naturally, after such an extended break in play, it was widely anticipated that the fourth official's board would signal approximately 20 minutes of additional time to be played at the end of the match.

Per The Sun, the official's board instead indicated that a massive 30 minutes would be tacked on to account for stoppages, much to the shock of everyone involved.

During the outrageously extended period of additional time, referee Julio Fernando Gutierrez showed red cards to two Blooming players.

To the visitors' credit, however, they battled back to level the match in between those dismissals, when Jose Luis Sinisterra found the back of the net in the 114th minute of the match.

Of course, each of these incidents added yet more stoppage time and the host broadcaster was soon displaying a figure of 40 minutes of additional time to be played.

Inevitably, then, there was still time for a decisive goal. Jonathan Canete struck for Palmaflor to snatch the win in the 38th minute of added time.

The marathon encounter finally ended four minutes later, bringing the 132-minute match to a close. You can check out highlights from the contest below.

Despite claiming victory, Palmaflor sports executive Evo Morales - who is also a former President of Boliva - was very unhappy with the way that match had been officiated, stating afterwards: "We are happy for our team's victory against Blooming, despite the suspicious refereeing.

"We are sorry about it and ask for a performance review of all the referees who exaggeratedly prolong matches. We would not like to think that they were looking to make our team lose."

Blooming, meanwhile, took to social media to mock the absurdity of the situation, joking that the final whistle had signalled the 'end of the third half'.