Give it another decade and you'll be as accustomed to a Hydration Break as you are to VAR checks, sleeve sponsors and every other commercial intrusion...
It was back in December that FIFA announced that this World Cup will feature mandated hydration breaks in every single game.
“Players will benefit from three-minute hydration breaks in each half of games as FIFA prioritises player welfare throughout next summer’s tournament,” read the press release.
Naturally, we’re sure it was purely for illustrative purposes that the article on FIFA’s website happened to be a close-up of a Powerade bottle – Coca-Cola’s prominently displayed sponsored brand for said breaks.
The news caused a mere ripple at the time. That weekend, Arsenal’s title charge hit the skids with a 2-1 defeat to Aston Villa. Liverpool remained in crisis, drawing 3-3 away to Leeds. Xabi Alonso, Ruben Amorim and Enzo Maresca were all still in employment. The January transfer window was around the corner.
World Cup? Pfft. Miles away.
Well, here we are.
And Virgil van Dijk seems to agree with the rest of us; it’s a dreadful development.
“I think hydration breaks are really interesting. I was obviously watching almost all of the games up until today,” the Netherlands captain told reporters following the 2-2 draw with Japan.
“I think every time going to commercials is a bit… Not really something that I like.
“I think for the neutral watchers on TV it is also not great. So if it is really hot it would be good to put them in but I think you have to look at it in every game, separately, in my opinion. But I think I have said enough already on that.”
The next World Cup will be predominantly held in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. Games in Seville, Porto and Marrakesh in June and July? You best believe that the hydration breaks are here to stay at the next World Cup.
After that, the 2034 World Cup will be held in Saudi Arabia. It’s not been confirmed just yet, but early suggestions are that it’ll be another winter tournament, as with Qatar in 2022. The Athletic reports that it could be held in January and February 2035 to avoid Ramadan.
If that proves to be the case, it’s likely that most matches won’t require a hydration break. But once FIFA has spent eight years normalising them – and monetising them – do you honestly expect a return to the old ways? At ‘Saudi Arabia 2034’? Read that one aloud again.
It’s already been announced that US broadcaster Fox will face no punishment from FIFA after breaking their “strict guidelines” (arf) after allowing their adverts to overrun after the action has resumed. Over in Ireland, RTE has come under fire for showing adverts during the breaks.
“I can’t let the moment go without noting that this is my first experience watching a game of football that’s been broken in the first half by advertisement breaks,” responded Irish pundit Richie Sadler.
“I understand there’s a water break, I know that’s a decision taken externally, but ads during a match is wrong. It just is.”
Sadler and Van Dijk are bang on. Nobody wants this. Football was never designed to be played in quarters.
The ebb and flow, the momentum swings, the sustained periods of pressure. The game is fundamentally altered when you stop the game and hand both managers a tactical timeout.
Yet there they are, creating two guaranteed interruptions per match. It’s fitting this is being rolled out in the United States, where sport long ago made peace with the notion that every interruption should generate revenue.
“RTE takes its commercial responsibilities seriously and seeks to strike an appropriate balance between generating revenue and delivering a high-quality viewing experience,” the Irish state broadcaster responded in a statement.
“To date, RTE has made only limited use of the advertising capacity available during these breaks and does not anticipate extensive utilisation over the course of the tournament, in order to protect the viewer experience.”
Well, that’s reassuring.
READ: Mails on Scotland, ‘hydration breaks’, Brazil’s Henderson and more
The thing is, these aren’t a new thing. We’re used to hydration breaks. They were first introduced at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Selected matches at the last World Cup included hydration breaks, once again a common-sense intervention aimed at safeguarding players. Nobody complained.
Here’s what was written in FIFA’s regulations handbook for Qatar 2022:
“Extreme weather conditions may warrant cooling and/or drinks breaks to be implemented during the course of a match in accordance with the protocols established by the FIFA Medical Committee and/or documented in the FIFA Football Emergency Medicine Manual.
“Such breaks would be considered on a match-by-match basis.”
The key words there? On a match-by-match basis.
Compare and contrast that to FIFA’s announcement for this World Cup:
“For every game, no matter where the games are played, no matter if there’s a roof, (or) temperature-wise, there will be a three-minute hydration break. It will be three minutes from whistle to whistle in both halves,” announced Manolo Zubiria, the ‘Chief Tournament Officer’ at a World Broadcaster Meeting back in December.
From “match-by-match” to “no matter what”.
Not to go all Matt Le Tissier… But do you see it now?
If you’ll allow us an analogy, cast your mind back to Barcelona going from no sponsor to being sponsored by UNICEF. Unlike traditional deals, the Catalan club didn’t receive any more for the sponsorship – instead, they actually paid €1.5million a year towards Aids projects to carry the charity’s name on the shirt.
What a classy gesture. No one could object. Then they replaced UNICEF with the Qatar Foundation. It was a five-year deal that banked Barcelona €150million, but still – it was a nonprofit organisation.
Fast forward 16 years, and Barcelona are now sponsored by Spotify, whose CEO Daniel Ek has received widespread criticism for investing in AI-powered military technology. So much for the ethical high ground.
That’s where football finds itself now. The first hydration breaks were the UNICEF shirt sponsor. Impossible to oppose. Now we’re at the Qatar Foundation. Before long, they’ll be just another monetised slice of the matchday experience.
Give it another decade you’ll be as accustomed to The Powerade™ Hydration Break as you are to VAR checks, sleeve sponsors and every other commercial intrusion that once seemed unthinkable.
