FIFA's decision to extend the World Cup final half-time to 30 minutes has divided opinion as fresh concerns emerge over player welfareRaff Tindale17:18, 15 Jul 2026An events boss has defended FIFA’s decision to extend the World Cup final half-time show, branding those who have criticised the move as “missing the point”. Mirror Football reported on Tuesday that the half-time interval for football’s biggest game is expected to last 30 minutes, a significant extension to the 15-minute break stipulated in the sport’s laws.‌While some observers have criticised the move, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has described the display as a “groundbreaking spectacle” that will “celebrate football, music and our shared values, ensuring a legacy that transcends the final whistle”. The governing body has confirmed the show will feature artists such as Madonna, Shakira and Justin Bieber and will be curated by Chris Martin of Coldplay.‌Michael Gietzen, the chief executive officer of Identity, has defended the governing body’s decision saying: “FIFA is right to extend half-time and the people complaining are missing the point.‌“Football has its own rhythm and its own rules and of course that matters. But a World Cup final isn’t ‘most of the time’.“It happens once every four years, in front of the biggest audience any single sporting event can pull. Treating it like a normal weekend fixture is the mistake, not the half-time show.”Get the latest World Cup news straight to your inbox by signing up to our Make Football Great Again newsletter now!‌The issue, however, is that this is not a one-off incident as Gietzen suggests. In last summer’s Club World Cup final between Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, the half-time interval was also extended, lasting 25 minutes.On numerous occasions, the governing body has declined to clarify how long the break at this year’s World Cup final would be, with this latest development potentially explaining the repeated refusal.The International FA Board (IFAB), the law-making body of football, turned down a request from the South American confederation CONMEBOL to extend the half-time break to 25 minutes. IFAB cited a “negative impact on player welfare and safety resulting from a longer period of inactivity” as the reason for declining CONMEBOL’s request.‌There is no doubt that Sunday’s spectacle will supersede the 15-minute limit dictated by the IFAB. Gietzen, however, was determined to defend FIFA’s decision: “A good half-time show isn’t a distraction from the football.“It’s part of the reason people remember exactly where they were when they watched it. A few extra minutes to get that right isn’t a compromise, it’s FIFA recognising that the final is a cultural event as much as a sporting one.”‌The Identity CEO, however, overlooked potential player welfare issues: “Purists may call that a dilution. I’d call it FIFA catching up to what a decent proportion of audiences have wanted for years.“A final like this comes round once every four years. Play it safe and you waste the moment.”Get the latest World Cup news straight to your inbox by signing up to our Make Football Great Again newsletter now!Article continues belowContent cannot be displayed without consent