On Sunday, the world witnessed a first in FIFA history during the high-octane match between the US and Portugal at the World Cup in Brazil. According to the Guardian Liberty Voice, a referee had called a timeout during the match for both teams to indulge in the tournament's first-ever water break. For fans and announcers who were present in the tournament, it was a surprising call considering that it was the first time that it happened in the World Cup. However, the call, which is now a court law according to a Brazilian court ruling, was a relief for players of both opposing teams.
Team managers of national teams who were slated to play in Manaus expressed their concern about the temperatures in the region ahead of the matches, more so in Manaus, since it is home to the Amazon rainforest. However, the players insisted of making the water break legal thanks to the independent government labor-code prosecutors who had been seeking a ruling on the the Brazilian labor-regulation standard of 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit), Reuters said. And on Friday, judge Rogerio Neiva Pinheiro of Brazil's Labor Court in Brasilia ordered FIFA to stop play at every World Cup games every thirty minutes for players to enjoy a water break should the temperature reach 32 degrees Celsius (90 Fahrenheit) or higher.
The Bleacher Report said tweets about the water break that was called in the 39th minute of the game flooded in. Citing The Weather Channel report, the humidity in Manaus was reportedly at 70%.
FOX Soccer Trax thought that a conspiracy theory is brewing in the intense game that the water break was supposedly called at an odd time. The tweet read, "39' POR 1-0: Referee calls a water break. We're not sure this is within FIFA standards. It's nasty there. But why now?"
Grantland's Shane Ryan also noted that the stoppage time did not add up exactly to the time the players had spent on the sidelines. He wrote, "How do they give them 2 minutes extra time when there were three minutes for a water break?"
FIFA spokeswoman Delia Fischer told Reuters that this ruling is already in the organizations guidelines, shutting down growing criticism of the world soccer body's influence in changing the laws in their host nations to meet its needs for the World Cup. She said, "We did not reach or exceed 32 degrees at any moment in any game so far. The court is only ordering us to follow our own procedures which we have always planned to do."
Portugal scored a crucial goal aided by star player Cristiano Ronaldo in the last 30 seconds of the game, resulting in a 2-2 draw.
