I’m a sports doctor – how World Cup 30-minute half-time show will damage players

This year’s World Cup final is set to feature a 30-minute Super Bowl-style half-time show, breaking from both tradition and the laws of the game. Critics have accused Fifa of attempting to “Americanise” football by lengthening the usual 15-minute intermission to allow for performances by stars including Madonna, Justin Bieber and Burna Boy. It is not the first time Fifa has flouted the laws of the game which stipulate the interval of any football match should not exceed 15 minutes. During last year’s Club World Cup the half-time was 25 minutes long. Shorts This time, the governing body has been accused of disregarding players’ welfare, with experts warning that the extended half-time could increase the likelihood of injuries. Dr Sam Botchey, consultant in musculoskeletal, sport and exercise medicine at HCA UK at The Shard and The Sports Biologics Clinic, is not a fan of the 30-minute half-time. “I personally don’t like the idea because I think the breaking routine is something that the players won’t like, and we want the players to be in their best of moods to perform,” he said. The South American Confederation previously proposed a 25-minute half-time in 2021, which was rejected by the International FA Board (Ifab), due to “negative impact on player welfare and safety resulting from a longer period of inactivity”. Botchey, who has worked with the England team, including players in this year’s squad, said the additional rest time comes with risks. “If you’ve just played 45, sometimes 50, 55 minutes of high-intensity football, your muscles are warm, they’re elastic, they’re primed for the explosive movement,” he said. “And then if you have an extended period of inactivity after this, this allows the muscle temperature to fall which can reduce your ability to produce power and also increase stiffness.” The types of injuries teams will be particularly primed to look for include hamstring, calf, groin and abductor injuries. Spain’s Dani Olmo reacts after sustaining an injury. Players could be particularly vulnerable to calf injuries if they don’t stay warm enough during the lengthier half-time (Photo: Daniel Becerril/Reuters) “The reason for that is if the muscle temperature falls and you get that reduced elasticity and slower contraction, when they then go and try and do a maximal sprint, that’s going to be the biggest concern for them,” Botchey explained. “The calves actually cool relatively quickly and the first few accelerations when you’ve got that explosive push off, what we call eccentric loading, can increase the strain risk.” It is not the length of the half-time alone but how the time is spent that could spell bad news for players, according to Botchey. Having worked with the national football team and elite athletes during his 10-plus years in the field, Botchey has high hopes the players and their medical teams will be equipped to mitigate any negative impacts doubling the length of half-time could have, as well as exploiting the benefits it has to offer. “I expect them to build a kind of a structured reactivation before players return to the pitch,” he said. “Keeping players warm, probably on a bike, and keeping them ticking over is probably going to be the most important thing they can do. “The first five minutes will be, obviously, immediate recovery, and this is where they try and get as much of the measures in for recovery purposes, so hydration, some carbohydrate gels. The half an hour provides a longer time for the medical team to assess anyone that might have taken a knock or anything like that.” Dr Sam Botchey said players’ risk of injury will be heightened if they don’t remain active enough during the extended break The consultant in sport and exercise medicine, who helps elite professionals manage their injuries, and improve performance, added: “Some players change their boots at half-time, all of that stuff will be done in the first five minutes, and then the manager will want to have a tactical meeting. “And during that time period they’re probably not going to be doing very much and continuing the cool down, but about halfway through it they’re going to need to start reactivating, and that reactivation is going to include stretches, mobility work, activation work, resistance band work, specific muscle activation.” They will also be making use of the walking treadmill or massage gun, “soft tissue guys will be getting their fingers and elbows” into some of the players’ muscles to keep them warm and loose, Botchey added. The final few minutes of half-time when players return to the pitch before the whistle blows will probably be spent doing passing drills and sprints, some high knees and change of direction exercises, all to keep “not only the muscles warm” but for “neuromuscular activation”, triggering communication between the brain and muscles. Botchey said an extra-long break between the two halves could also impact players’ cognitive abilities. “There’s a risk when you stop for so long that when you come back cognitively you’re not as sharp, and that’s when you also have risk of joint injuries like spraining your ankle or spraining your knee, because you’re psychologically and cognitively de-escalated from the game.”