World Cup hydration breaks might change into everlasting a part of Premier League matches
FIFA chief Gianni Infantino has hinted the mid-half stoppages – which break up matches into four equal periods NFL-style – will feature in future cups and tournaments
England’s Harry Kane during a hydration break
Football could forever be a game of four quarters instead of two halves as hydration breaks are here to stay, according to FIFA chief Gianni Infantino. He hinted the mid-half stoppages – which break up matches into four equal periods NFL-style – will feature in future World Cups.
That means they are likely to sneak into Premier and Champions League matches too. Despite the controversy and backlash surrounding the breaks Infantino thinks they have had a positive impact.
Managers and experts have said analysis shows the three-minute stoppages can be momentum shifters. England fans booed hydration stoppages during the 0-0 draw against Ghana even though it was raining in Boston.
They have been deployed at other matches played indoors in air conditioned stadiums. Many broadcasters have used them to flog twice as many adverts during commercial breaks.
But Infantino told SNTV they were a positive addition to the sport. He said: “Maybe the coach can reassess certain situations, correct certain mistakes.
“The players get a little rest and come back in full speed. Well, is that bad necessarily? Maybe it’s good. And we see as well the intensity of the games.
“We’ve never seen 90 minutes in a tournament like this played in such an intensity. Until the last second of the match players attack and so on, and maybe, maybe not, but maybe it’s also a bit thanks to this little break that the players have and after they can go back on the field and show what they can do.”
He said they would be deployed at all 104 matches at the tournament – regardless of conditions – to maintain fairness. “If we were to use hydration breaks only in those matches where it was too hot and not in the other matches we would give an advantage or a disadvantage to some of the coaches or some of the teams,” he said.
“Why would the coach have the opportunity to influence the game in one match just because it’s hot and in another match where it’s a bit less hot, he wouldn’t have this opportunity?” Telly pundits have slammed the breaks.
England boss Thomas Tuchel said: “I think that it interrupts and changes the identity of a football match much more than I thought. I had hydration breaks before when it was really, really hot and needed, but they were shorter.
“They were shorter and they were just in a few matches. In the interests of fairness here it is now done in every match for every team. It breaks the match almost in four quarters. And I think it changes the characteristic of the match more than I thought.”
Dr Lindsay Hunt, a senior sports scientist at Precision Fuel and Hydration, said extra stoppages were not needed in air-conditioned stadiums. “There’s absolutely no need to be implementing an extreme heat policy intervention such as additional breaks,” he added.
Supporters have accused FIFA of Americanising the game so home fans will engage in the tournament co-hosted by the US, Canada and Mexico. One wrote online: “Wear helmets & uniforms and they can play NFL at the same time!!”
Another said: “Hydration break? Sure, just call it what it really is – an advert break. America loves pausing their sports for those.” “Game now in quarters. Gone completely,” said another.
One more raged: “FIFA have sold their soul. This is purely for the USA market and so they can have adverts during a game!” “How about time-outs, girls dancing during water breaks, a rousing marching band at half-time, adverts for toothpaste and all the rest of the American football experience,” added someone else
Organisers tried breaking games into quarters at the 1994 World Cup in the US but FIFA said no. Football has been a game of two halves since 1870 when England’s FA formalised rules shortening hour-long halves into a 90-minute match.
Half-time used to be just 10 minutes long but officially extended to ‘not exceeding 15 minutes’ in 2006. In the NFL, breaks between the first and second and third and fourth quarters last about two minutes with at least 12 minutes for ‘half-time’ between the second and third.
Each quarter is 15 minutes long but stoppages for penalties, time-outs and commercials can stretch out 60-minute games to three hours.
