To: FIFA President Gianni Infantino and the FIFA Organising Committee

We, the football fans, players, and purists of the world, demand an end to the mandatory 3-minute "hydration breaks" at the 22nd and 67th minutes of World Cup matches.

What was introduced under the guise of player welfare has turned out to be a thinly veiled commercial cash grab. Forcing mandatory stoppages in every single game (even in air-conditioned, indoor stadia) destroys the natural flow, drama, and intensity that makes football the beautiful game.

Football is a game of 2, 45 continuous minutes halves, not a four-quarter style sport engineered for television commercials. If players need hydration, they can take drink on in 30 seconds or so, or from the sidelines during natural pauses in play, as they have done for decades.

By enforcing these rigid, artificial timeouts, FIFA is prioritising advertising revenue over the integrity of the sport and the fan experience.

We call on FIFA to:

1.     Abolish mandatory 3-minute breaks for future FIFA tournaments, including the knockout stages of the 2026 World Cup

2.     Return to weather-dependent hydration breaks determined solely by medical officials on the pitch, not by broadcast schedules.

3.     Protect the continuous 90-minute format of traditional football. 

Don't let commercial interests ruin the world's greatest tournament. Save the flow of the game!