The World Cup halftime show during the final is “expected to be about 30 minutes long to accommodate Fifa’s star-studded show,” which means it will be “breaching the maximum time of 15 minutes permitted under the Laws of the Game,” according to Martyn Ziegler of the London TIMES. FIFA has a “history of ignoring the permitted 15 minutes” as its halftime break in the Club World Cup final last year stretched to 25 minutes. It has “declined on several occasions to confirm the total expected length of the break” at the World Cup final in N.Y./N.J., but broadcasters are “expecting it to be around 30 minutes.” CONMEBOL has previously “proposed extending the maximum half-time length to 25 minutes but that was rejected” by the International FA Board, the law-making body, in 2021. Singers Madonna, Justin Bieber, Shakira, BTS, Burna Boy, Gustavo Dudamel and the PS22 Chorus featuring Coldplay are due to perform at the “Super Bowl-style half-time show.” There will also be a closing ceremony show starting 90 minutes before the 3pm kick-off involving singer Robbie Williams, actor Tom Cruise and singer Nicole Scherzinger (London TIMES, 7/14).
BREAK IN TIME: THE ATHLETIC’s Sheldon & Crafton wrote it is “highly unusual for the 15-minute break to be extended,” so it will “create a unique challenge for the players and coaches who are not accustomed to a longer interval.” This is the first time FIFA has held a halftime show at the World Cup, but it did have one during last summer’s Club World Cup final. A key difference for the World Cup final is that the show “will take place on the pitch, meaning a stage will need to be erected and collapsed before and after the performance” (THE ATHLETIC, 7/14).
CHANGING THE GAME: In London, Jason Burt writes FIFA appears to “be on a mission to Americanise football into soccer.” With the addition of hydration breaks, it all “seems part of the determination to wring every last bit of revenue out of the World Cup as it allows TV companies to cover the cost of rights by selling more airtime to advertisers.” It also “plays to the theory that everyone has the attention span of a gnat, especially young people, and the prospect of them watching one uninterrupted 45 minutes is unthinkable.” For players, there is “little regard for how much hanging around they are now doing” (London TELEGRAPH, 7/15).
