DIEGO MARADONA slammed the World Cup’s most hated new feature – hydration breaks.
The have been justified as beneficial for the players’ welfare but many have argued that they are wholly unnecessary.
Diego Maradona came out against hydration breaks nearly a decade ago Credit: AFP
Fifa introduced hydration breaks at every game this edition independently of heat risk Credit: Getty
But Maradona spotted the flaws a whole EIGHT years ago.
The Argentine star weighed in on the 2026 edition back in 2018 when the US, , and were named as future hosts.
In the clip , he said: “There’s no passion.
“The Canadians may be good skiers, and the Americans wanted to have four periods of 25 (minutes) for the advertising.”
Maradona launched a scathing attack on the lack of true football culture in North America.
He told Telsur: “Mexico doesn’t deserve it. The Mexicans come up against Brazil or Germany… and ‘boom,’ they’re out.”
made the three-minute stoppages mandatory for every single match this time around.
This means that the breaks will continue – even in games with no heat risk.
That is, apart from against Iraq.
UK viewers have been handed the opportunity for a bit more tactical analysis and insight from the and pundits.
Elsewhere in the world, ads have started to roll 20 seconds after the first hydration whistle and only end 30s before the restart.
Experts have tipped that the advertising revenue generates more than £189million in the US alone.
And the major funds have led some fans to question whether the breaks have anything to do with the players at all.
At the World Cup in 2022, the breaks were optional and only used if the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (a calculation factoring in heat, humidity, and solar radiation) exceeded 32°C.
But that was not met very often after they moved the games to the winter with air-conditioned stadiums.
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Eze Chidiebere Paul
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