ALBAWABA - FIFA were unimpressed with results after analyzing hydration break effects on field play, hinting that it may not continue past the World Cup.
The insights come from Arsene Wenger, FIFA’s chief of football development, after he acknowledged some fans’ dissatisfaction with the hydration break saying that it interrupts play unnecessarily.
When asked whether he has seen any data supporting that hydration breaks improves players’ abilities and the flow of the game, Wenger said a definitive “No.”
“Sometimes people didn’t like it, and we have to analyse after the World Cup what is the impact,” the former Arsenal manager told reporters.
“It didn’t look to me that it changed the results of competition. But we are here to serve people who watch football, and we’ll come to conclusions after the competition.”
Before, hydration breaks were in the hands of the referees if they deemed it too hot - now it has become a rule for every match, even those played in mild environments.
In the Egypt vs Iran match, players took a hydration break when it was 16 degrees Celsius on the pitch. With one fan saying beforehand: “If they do a hydration break tonight, that’s going to be really funny because it’s actually very cold,”
The question stands, will FIFA decide to keep the hydration break as a rule or revert it back to a referee decision?
