FIFA has chosen to include hydration breaks in all World Cup matches, regardless of temperature. This seems to be a perfect fit for American advertising culture.
Hydration breaks will become familiar during the World Cup
The US must come to terms with the new ‘Watergate’ scandal, which is proving difficult to swallow. Back in 1972, US President Richard Nixon caused the first Watergate scandal, which led to his own downfall.
But unlike back then, this modern version, the brainchild of FIFA and its president Gianni Infantino, included no cover-up. Sadly, it won’t spell the end for Infantino either.
Just one game into this World Cup exposed FIFA’s introduction of “hydration breaks” as complete nonsense. Unless, of course, you are the host broadcaster.
Because the 3-minute interval is a golden opportunity to close lucrative advertising deals. It was a painful reminder to the soccer world that this is by no means a get-rich-quick tournament. The opening game between Mexico and South Africa was stopped after just 24 minutes.
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While the protagonists were rehydrating, the people at home watched 180 seconds of Lowe’s (not me) advertising home improvements. wonderful. The temperature in Mexico City was 23°C. In other words, June temperatures are mild in that part of the world.
But the match, played inside the football cathedral of the Azteca Stadium, where Pele and Diego Maradona once gave birth to football from God, had lost all its momentum, and its creators were gulping water.
Once again, common sense has saved us from FIFA’s list of priorities related to FIFA’s Blue Ribbon Events. There will certainly be matches under the hot sun. Are you okay. But then again, some people may not do that. FIFA’s decision to cover all 104 matches with water breaks is therefore bizarre and equally insane.
FIFA’s water break concept is perfect for American advertising (Image: FIFA via Getty Images)
The game will be similar to basketball. 1/4 stop-start action. And no football game in the coming weeks will match the fourth quarter of the NBA Finals between the New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs.
Managers hate that rule, too. This includes U.S. national team coach Mauricio Pochettino. But that doesn’t stop him from using the break to his advantage. Even during warm-up games, he practiced what to do during those three intense minutes. Imagine what benefits an elite manager of the best team could reap.
At the World Cup, there is a hydration break between each half (Image: Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Let me be clear. FIFA claims that canceling matches protects players and “guarantees the best possible conditions” for them, but this is the kind of hypocrisy that Donald Trump himself would be proud of.
If FIFA had the best interests of the people who make the game great, it would never have considered hosting the World Cup in North America in the first place. Far from being approved. Because the weather is just one of many reasons why it shouldn’t have been that way.
The truth of this decision can be found in FIFA and its broadcast partners’ shameless obsession with squeezing a few more dollars out of a bleeding World Cup. How ironic, isn’t it?
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