Það var verið að laga markið, og þess vegna þurfti dómarinn að bíða.

This is a very common Icelandic way to express that something was in progress.

• vera að + infinitive often works like English to be doing
  • ég er að lesa = I am reading
• In the past:
  • ég var að lesa = I was reading

But here you get það var verið að laga..., which is a more impersonal way of saying:

• there was work being done on the goal
• someone was fixing the goal
• the goal was being fixed

It does not focus on who was doing it, only that the action was happening.

Here það is a kind of dummy subject, similar to English there or it in sentences like:

• There was dancing
• It was being done

In Það var verið að laga markið, the það does not really mean it in a concrete sense. It is just there because Icelandic often wants something in the subject position in this kind of impersonal sentence.

So you should think of it structurally, not as a meaningful it.

Verið is the past participle of vera (to be).

In this pattern, Icelandic uses:

• var verið að... = was in the process of...
• er verið að... = is in the process of...

So in það var verið að laga markið, the combination var verið að creates the idea that the action was ongoing in the past.

This is a fixed and very common construction, so it is best learned as a whole pattern.

Að laga usually means to fix, to repair, or sometimes to adjust.

So:

• að laga markið = to fix the goal

Depending on context, laga can also mean things like:

• to mend
• to put right
• to improve

In a sports context, it usually means physically fixing or adjusting something.

Markið means the goal, while mark means a goal or just goal in a more general sense.

The ending -ið is the definite article attached to the noun:

• mark = goal
• markið = the goal

Icelandic usually adds the to the end of the noun instead of using a separate word like English does.

In this sentence, yes, most likely.

The noun mark can mean different things depending on context, such as:

• goal in sports
• mark, target, or score

But because the sentence mentions dómarinn (the referee), the natural reading is that markið means the actual sports goal that needed fixing.

Þess vegna means therefore, because of that, or for that reason.

It is a fixed expression. You do not need to analyze it every time you use it, but literally it comes from older case forms and means something like because of that.

So:

• Það var verið að laga markið, og þess vegna þurfti dómarinn að bíða.
• The goal was being fixed, and because of that the referee had to wait.

It is one of the most useful Icelandic connectors for showing cause and result.

This is because Icelandic normally follows a verb-second rule in main clauses.

That means the finite verb usually comes in the second position of the clause.

In the second clause:

• og = and
• þess vegna = for that reason
• þurfti = had to
• dómarinn = the referee

Since þess vegna comes first inside the clause, the verb þurfti must come next, and the subject dómarinn comes after it.

So:

• Þess vegna þurfti dómarinn að bíða = correct
• Þess vegna dómarinn þurfti að bíða = not correct in normal Icelandic

This kind of inversion is very common.

Þurfti is the past tense of þurfa, which means to need or to have to.

So:

• ég þarf = I need / I have to
• ég þurfti = I needed / I had to

In this sentence:

• þurfti dómarinn að bíða = the referee had to wait

Even though English often uses had to, Icelandic just uses the past tense of þurfa.

After þurfa, Icelandic commonly uses að + infinitive.

So:

• þurfa að gera eitthvað = to need to do something
• þurfti að bíða = had to wait

This is very similar to English to have to wait.

Examples:

• Ég þarf að fara. = I need to go.
• Við þurftum að vinna. = We had to work.

Dómarinn is in the nominative singular definite.

Breakdown:

• dómari = referee
• dómarinn = the referee

It is nominative because it is the subject of the clause:

• the referee had to wait

So the person doing the waiting is the subject, and that is why nominative is used.

The comma separates two coordinated clauses:

1. Það var verið að laga markið
2. og þess vegna þurfti dómarinn að bíða

In Icelandic, commas are often used a bit more readily than in English, especially between longer coordinated clauses. So the comma here helps show the pause and the relationship between the two parts.

It is not the hardest thing to worry about as a learner, but the sentence is punctuated naturally.

It is not a straightforward textbook passive like English the goal was repaired, but it does have a passive-like, impersonal feel.

The sentence avoids mentioning the people doing the fixing. Instead, it focuses on the ongoing event:

• There was fixing of the goal going on
• The goal was being fixed

So the best way to think of it is:

• impersonal
• action in progress
• doer not specified

That is why það var verið að + infinitive is so useful in Icelandic.

Yes. A simpler and more direct version could be:

• Þeir voru að laga markið, og þess vegna þurfti dómarinn að bíða.
  • They were fixing the goal, and therefore the referee had to wait.

Or, if the people are unknown:

• Það var verið að laga markið...

The version in your sentence is natural because it does not care who they were. It just reports what was happening. That is very common in Icelandic.