Scandal at the World Cup. Referee delays Mexico vs South Africa players at halftime due to commercials
Kenley Ward
Dailysports's expert
An unusual incident took place during yesterday's World Cup opening match between Mexico and South Africa.
Details: As reported by renowned and respected journalist Romain Molina on his social media page on X, during the so-called cooling break in the Mexico vs South Africa match, the main referee, Wilton Sampaio, was forced to keep the players off the pitch longer than the allotted time because the FOX broadcast was running a commercial break.
While the players themselves were ready to return to play after the short break, the referee was instructed to wait until the commercials ended.
Ultimately, the match resumed before the commercial break had finished, causing some viewers to miss the first moments after the restart.
Fans on social media lashed out at FIFA with criticism, accusing them of deception: initially, the “cooling breaks” were introduced to protect players’ health, but as we can see, even here FIFA found a way to make money.
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