Drinking water annoys the Uruguay coach.

Marcelo Bielsa, the head coach of the Uruguay national football team, strongly criticized the water break periods in the World Cup.

The International Football Federation (FIFA) approved these breaks due to concerns about player safety in the high temperatures of North America, but fans have started to boo these stoppages, especially in indoor stadiums.

Television broadcasting companies have been accused of taking advantage of these breaks by adding more advertisements, making football matches resemble games divided into short quarters like in American football and basketball. The matches have also seen significant changes in their flow after these breaks, as coaches use them to make tactical adjustments.

Various media outlets reported the Uruguayan coach saying on Sunday: “These breaks offer nothing, but they take away a lot from football. All I want to say is that football had a certain character before this decision, but now it has a different character.”

He added: “We did not think about the consequences that would affect the sport itself, but rather about another type of impact,” referring to commercial reasons, and then continued: “The conclusions I draw are not just my own; I hear them repeatedly and agree with them.”