Maybe they're good: FIFA to analyze use of hydration breaks at future World Cups, Infantino says

ATLANTA (AP) — FIFA will consider keeping hydration breaks for future World Cups despite backlash to the extra stoppages in play at this year's tournament.

Gianni Infantino, the soccer body's president, defended the decision to introduce breaks — which come midway through each half — at this World Cup and said Tuesday they may be providing more entertainment for fans.

He said FIFA would analyze what it will do in future tournaments “based on this experience.” But after criticism that the breaks were a stealth way to insert advertising or American-style timeouts, Infantino suggested the stoppages have been positive.

“Maybe the coach can reassess certain situations, correct certain mistakes. The players get a little rest and come back in full speed. Well, is that bad necessarily? Maybe it’s good,” Infantino told SNTV. "And we see as well the intensity of the games. We’ve never seen 90 minutes in a tournament like this played in such an intensity.

“Until the last second of the match, players attack and so on," he continued. "And maybe, maybe not, but maybe it’s also a bit thanks to this little break that the players have and after they can go back on the field and show what they can do.”

The World Cup has certainly delivered in terms of entertainment, with goals scored at a record pace and big performances from soccer greats like Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé and Erling Haaland. There have also been shocks provided by debutants Cape Verde and Curacao, despite fears the expansion of the tournament from 32 teams to 48 would dilute the quality.

But the biggest criticism has been the introduction of hydration breaks for all matches regardless of venue or location.

Loud jeers have greeted the stoppages, around 22 minutes into each half, especially at games played in stadiums with roofs and air conditioning, such as Atlanta.

Infantino said it was necessary for sporting equity.

“If we were to use hydration breaks only in those matches where it was too hot and not in the other matches, we would give an advantage or a disadvantage to some of the coaches or some of the teams,” he said. “Why would the coach have the opportunity to influence the game in one match just because it’s hot and in another match where it’s a bit less hot, he wouldn’t have this opportunity?”

Infantino also insisted FIFA was making no extra money as a result of networks cutting to commercials because contracts had been signed before the decision to introduce hydration breaks.

James Robson is at https://x.com/jamesalanrobson

AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup

United States head coach Mauricio Pochettino, center, speaks to his players during a hydration break during the World Cup Group D soccer match between the United States and Australia in Seattle, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Maddy Grassy)

France head coach Didier Deschamps talks with France's Kylian Mbappe (10) in the hydration break during the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

Players take a hydration break during the World Cup Group I soccer match between France and Iraq in Philadelphia, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Argentina's Lionel Messi drinks water during a hydration break of the World Cup Group J soccer match between Argentina and Austria in Arlington, Texas, near Dallas, Monday, June 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Jessica Tobias)

FIFA President Gianni Infantino attends the World Cup Group D soccer match between the United States and Paraguay in Inglewood, Calif., near Los Angeles, Friday, June 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Andre Penner)

FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A demonstrator who shot and wounded a police officer outside a Texas immigration center last July 4 was sentenced to 100 years in federal prison Tuesday, while other protesters accused of having links to antifa were given multiple decades in federal prison.

Benjamin Song was convicted of attempted murder last March after prosecutors say he opened fire and wounded a police officer at the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado.

The seven other protesters sentenced Tuesday received prison terms ranging from 30 to 70 years.

“Our issue with this case has always been this isn’t a bunch of terrorists. This is a bunch of kids and young adults who really have a really big heart and really wanted their voice to be heard,” Philip Hayes, Song’s attorney, said outside the federal courthouse in Fort Worth. “It was never intended that anybody get hurt. It was never intended that any shots would be fired.”

U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor, one of two judges overseeing the proceedings, said what happened last July wasn’t a protest but “an assault on democracy.”

“The need to deter this type of conduct is high,” O'Connor said.

Hayes said his client will appeal the sentence.

“Song, aside from this day, has had an impeccable life. A former Marine. A good student,” he said. “He had a lot of good qualities that were just ignored. The judge went ahead and gave as much as he could.”

One of the defendants, Daniel Sanchez Estrada, was convicted of corruptly concealing a document and conspiracy to conceal documents. He received a 30-year prison term Tuesday.

Others pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists rather than take their case to trial.

Prosecutors say the eight are members of antifa, a decentralized anti-fascist organization that has become a target of the Trump administration. Short for “anti-fascists,” antifa is not a single organization but rather an umbrella term for far-left militant groups that confront or resist neo-Nazis and white supremacists at demonstrations.

President Donald Trump last fall signed an executive order designating antifa a domestic terrorist organization, even though there is no domestic equivalent to the State Department’s list of foreign terror organizations.

The defendants deny any affiliation with antifa and maintain they attended the demonstration to show support for immigrants inside the detention center.

Critics warn the case could have wide-reaching impact on protests given that organizations operating within the U.S. are supposed to be protected by First Amendment free-speech rights.

Last week, federal prosecutors charged 15 people with impeding the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Minnesota. They claimed the demonstrators were members of antifa who conspired against the federal government to block arrests and deportations by setting up blockades around government buildings and throwing chunks of ice at federal vehicles, among other actions.

Marcelo reported from New York.

FILE - Officers with the Department of Homeland Security walk on the sidewalk outside the Eldon B. Mahon U.S. Courthouse during a trial for people connected to a 2025 shooting outside an ICE detention facility, in Fort Worth, Texas, March 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)