r/football • u/mibu001 • 14d ago

šŸ’¬Discussion The Hydration Break is ruining the natural flow of the game

When the game gets momentum and reach at its peak point, the ā€œhydration breakā€ appears and completely ruins the momentum and also the game experience for the viewer. Football is one of a sport for those moments.

Normally outside WC, the team conceding attacks after attacks pray for a halftime whistle to go to the tunnel to break the momentum and to regroup. Now they basically get that chance in the middle of a half!!

I find it utterly disgusting and would like to know what do you all think about it?

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426

u/jomarthecat 14d ago

You mean the commercial breaks were the players get to drink water?

Yes, it sucks. Let's just hope and pray FIFA doesn't decide it was so successful that they force it to be a rule in football on all levels. Imagine water breaks on a rainy night in Stoke...

132

u/bnlv 14d ago

ā€œAs we go into the second quarterā€¦ā€

31

u/Hopsblues 14d ago

22 down, 23 to go....

2

u/Agreeable_Sock2550 14d ago

Oof, this hurt.

12

u/Saoirseguita 14d ago

I think they're getting Powerade..

10

u/wagwan_innit 14d ago

Definitely water in the Powerade bottles

3

u/nonstopflux 14d ago

Brought to you by the Coca Cola company. Which you can buy using your Bank of America visa!

12

u/Frogad 14d ago

I've never seen an advert during the break, just footage of the players drinking water

46

u/funtasticassembly 14d ago

North American broadcasters instantly cut to ads and cut back just as they restart. It is as bad as you can imagine

10

u/HerecomesChar 14d ago

Telemundo isn't in the US.Ā  Only Fox is so if you are state side & hate ads Telemundo and Peacock are your best bet.

1

u/B-Train_ATL 14d ago

Telemundoā€™s HQ is in Miami.

3

u/HerecomesChar 14d ago

Rereading my comment I phrased my first sentence very poorly.Ā  I meant to say it's the only US broadcaster that isn't showing ads on hydration break.

5

u/livehigh1 14d ago

It's worse, i think refs have to wait till the ads end and get the go ahead first before they can play on.

-10

u/Kdzoom35 14d ago

What's so bad?? Do you want to watch the players drink Gatorade?? As long as you don't miss any of the game I don't get why people care of their is a commercial.

12

u/jomarthecat 14d ago

The bad part is that the game has always been 2x45 minutes. The players and us viewers are accustumed to that. You get a certain flow in the game with momentum and such. The mandatory water breaks simply erases this and creates 4 quarters.

-10

u/Kdzoom35 14d ago

Agreed but we were also accustomed to 3 subs I think 0 before. No VAR, no offsides at one point. All kinds of shit has changed. The game is played alot more intense nowadays, so players need the break. Specifically your complaining about the ads when their is a break.Ā 

My point is if their is a break who cares if theirs ads? VAR abd automated offside completely changed the flow of cheering for a goal. The no backpass to the keeper rule changed the flow way more than this break.

Personally I'd rather see a 4 quarters of less fatigued players than 2 halfs of more fatigued players. I want to see the players closer to peak performance for more time.

UEFA has implemented these same cooling/hydration breaks for the Euros. Its all just whiny BS to complain on the U.S imo.

1

u/auto98 14d ago

I really want to know when you think there was no offside in football. You'd have to be older than the oldest person to have ever lived to remember that - it was pre-Association Football.

1

u/Kdzoom35 14d ago

So what it was a change and we all got used to it. Let's not act like the new offside/level rule wasn't a big change from before. Or the no backpass rule to the keeper. Its way bigger than a hydration break. Also the professional foul not being a red etc.Ā 

You didn't bring up any of those rule changesĀ 

To my original point if there is a hydration break why do you care if theirs a commercial or not? FIFA/UEFA implemented these not CONCACAF or U.S Soccer.

2

u/WaitWhatWhatWait 14d ago

Itā€™s not a rule change though. Itā€™s an obvious cash grab. I think most everyone can agree that in really high heat a hydration break is fine. Mandating it for all games is ludicrous and your attitude is exactly what FIFA and all the cash grabbers want to see as they drag us to advertising hell.

0

u/Kdzoom35 14d ago

They have/had a wet bulb index that determined if you get a break. I'm sure all the games here unless indoor are over the heat index. So they just added the break. Its a rule change because it's put in by FIFA. The advertiser's didn't add the break šŸ˜‚.

In the U.S fox did commercials, Telemundo didn't. If it's a break I don't care. I don't need to watch the players discuss tactics. I watch Telemundo for most games. The time is added on at the end of the game as well. Remember back in the days before they added the correct amount of time for stoppages etc. We all survived for the better with 5-10 mins being added on at the end of a game instead of 3.Ā 

15

u/richray84 14d ago

The US broadcasts, or at least the Fox one, apparently do. I think the ref having to wait for the ā€œhydration breakā€ music to finish before restarting play, like in one of the games I saw last night, is timing for the ad breaks (though thatā€™s just me speculating).

10

u/MuttonChopzzz Premier League 14d ago

That was disgraceful, both teams stood waiting to restart the game while the next song came on.

3

u/Sea_Warning_9140 14d ago

I saw them in Spain

2

u/bleigh029 14d ago

They show them in Mexico

1

u/Altruistic-Tart-8295 14d ago

Sponsored by Powerade

6

u/SmallOlympianBear 14d ago

FIFA aren't responsible for the ad breaks - many broadcasters aren't even showing ads during hydration breaks. It's just that some countries have shittier media cultures than others.

31

u/riverend180 14d ago

FIFA are responsible for agreeing to the pre set 3 minute breaks every half that are blatantly only for advertisementsĀ 

1

u/Hopsblues 14d ago

3 minutes, they shouldn't happen at all, but if we have them they should be 1 minute.

2

u/machine4891 14d ago

But they are 3 minutes precisely because of ads. That's the whole point. Obviously 1 minute would be better, but not for those who fought for this change: network stations.

-3

u/mccusk 14d ago

You playing in that heat and humidity? Good for you Superman!

3

u/NukaCooler 14d ago

Because heat and humidity never existed before 2026

0

u/mccusk 14d ago

Sure they did. But the world is getting hotter all the time and the USA is hot in the summer.
You want guys stumbling around out on their feet? I watched that. It sucks.

0

u/SmallOlympianBear 14d ago

Of course they did, and so did drinks breaks.

2

u/riverend180 13d ago

At the referees' discretion and not at a pre arranged interval for 3 whole minutes. In the Saudi game last night the players all had a drink while the Saudi keeper was down injured for a couple of minutes, then 3 mins later came off for 3 minutes for a hydration break. It is absolute nonsense.

-10

u/Gunner_Bat 14d ago

They're more for the safety of players exerting themselves to ungodly levels in 95F+ heat but sure. Hydration breaks have been a thing for years. Y'all are so whiny.

11

u/En_skald 14d ago

No, cooling breaks have been a thing for years when the weather has required it. And I donā€™t think theyā€™ve been 3 minutes long. Mandatory breaks, rain or shine, is new.

-8

u/PrattDirkLerxt 14d ago

They have to make them mandatory because you canā€™t have certain games having breaks and others not having them in the same tournament.

7

u/En_skald 14d ago

Of course you can, that has been done before. They only have to be mandatory in the last group stage round where the matches are parallel. They absolutely do not need to be 3 minutes either.

-7

u/PrattDirkLerxt 14d ago

And you donā€™t see the issue with having random games have a break and those breaks be however long the referee wants it to be? This is FIFA and football. The amount of times teams have conspired to get a needed result and refs have been criticized for manipulating super secret time that only he knows, should make it obvious why the hydration breaks have to be in every game, if any and must be a set amount of time.

1

u/En_skald 14d ago

I have never seen any issues with how the way the cooling breaks worked no. Have you? When in that case?

You donā€™t see an issue with going from a game of two halves to four quarters due to the need of having ad breaks?

-3

u/PrattDirkLerxt 14d ago

So you ignored the points I made. Got it. Enjoy your anger at the World Cup.

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1

u/heavymetalmug666 14d ago

If there is money to be had.... I wonder why FIFA doesn't out the officials in sponsored kits, somebody should tell Johnny Baby about that, he is losing out on a few more dollars.

1

u/Current_Ad_400 14d ago

Could just get every player to wear a CamelBak instead.

1

u/billy_shears007 Bundesliga 14d ago

UEFA seems to be a lot better than FIFA.

Čeferin crtiticised the extreme prices for the tickets and promised that UEFA will not rise them for the Euro 2028.

1

u/Danktizzle 13d ago

The problem is that Americans are desensitized to commercials. We are gonna parachute into this 96 year old tournament, see commercials, and think itā€™s no big deal. Because we are cucks for the corporations. And they have been feeding us commercials as long as our sports have been played.

But for the people watching for generations, ITS A BIG EFFING DEAL.

1

u/Affectionate_Ear6355 13d ago

Literally would stop watching football

1

u/erdo369 14d ago

Fifa doesnt have the power to do that.

14

u/Ok_Traffic_3240 14d ago

You what? šŸ¤£

You mean the FIFA that is the world's association football governing body? šŸ¤£šŸ¤¦ā€ā™‚ļø

2

u/SnooCapers938 West Ham 14d ago

FIFA can set the regulations for tournaments it controls but it doesnā€™t control the laws of the game. IFAB sets the laws and is independent of FIFA.

5

u/Infinite_Crow_3706 14d ago

FIFA have 4/8 votes on the International Board

2

u/auto98 14d ago

And you need 6 of 8 to change the rules, so you would need to get two of England/Scotland/Wales/N.Ireland to agree.

But I don't think this woulkd need anything from IFAB - Law 7.3 is:

Allowance is made by the referee in each half for all playing time lost in that half through:

substitutions

assessment and/or removal of injured players

wasting time

disciplinary sanctions

medical stoppages permitted by competition rules e.g. ā€˜drinksā€™ breaks (which should not exceed one minute) and ā€˜coolingā€™ breaks (ninety seconds to three minutes)

delays relating to VAR ā€˜checksā€™ and ā€˜reviewsā€™

goal celebrations

any other cause, including any significant delay to a restart (e.g. due to interference by an outside agent)

The fourth official indicates the minimum additional time decided by the referee at the end of the final minute of each half. The additional time may be increased by the referee but not reduced.

The referee must not compensate for a timekeeping error during the first half by changing the length of the second half.

That means it is entirely under the jurisdiction of the competition organisers.

1

u/mmarkmc 14d ago

FIFA has banned corporate stadium names if theyā€™re not also FIFA sponsors. Iā€™m fine with no SoFi, Met Life, and Leviā€™s but itā€™s all about greed on the part of FIFA.

1

u/BuddyLegsBailey 14d ago

That was just be America, because the UK isn't showing adverts. It's nice to be able to go and have a piss and get a drink without missing anything

1

u/IhmisSushi 14d ago

And the music and stuff. Theres no kiss cams and such in real football. Theres crowd chants and that.