Whelan: 'Desperate need' for maligned hydration breaks
As Ronnie Whelan traverses North America as part of RTÉ commentary team, the former Republic of Ireland midfielder is getting a valuable insight into the 2026 World Cup on and off the pitch.
As he prepared to fly out from Atlanta, the Liverpool legend joined the RTÉ Soccer Podcast alongside Kevin Doyle to lift the lid on what the tournament has been like in the venues and on the streets.
Thus far, Whelan has been in New York/New Jersey, Houston and Atlanta to cover games and it's the latter city that has embraced the World Cup most from his point of view.
Its stadium along with Houston's are among three that are fully air-conditioned. But even so, Whelan went against the tide of those who feel the enforced hydration breaks are unnecessary or barely concealed fig leaves for commercial breaks.
"There is a desperate need for it," he said.
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"You've seen all the pictures from when we were there in '94, and Jack (Charlton) spraying Steve Staunton with all sorts of water, (because) we couldn't get hydration breaks out there.
"(FIFA have) brought it in, and it's perfect. The players need it. They might not look to be tired or whatever, but they're sweating profusely all the time, every stadium.
"In the stadium when it's closed overall altogether, that helps the players a little bit down on the pitch. The temperature's not as bad as it would be outside the ground, but they still need these breaks."
Whelan also backed the new rules brought in to reduce time wasting at corner kicks, throws ins and goal kicks, feeling that it has helped contribute to decent fare so far on the pitch.
"The new rules have helped really when you're at the ground and people are going down like they used to go down when they stayed down then," he said.
"But they don't now. They're up (after) five or six seconds, they're up off the ground, the game's going on again.
"Throw-ins quick, got to be done, goal kicks got to be, what (five) seconds or whatever it is. It's quickened the game up immensely."
Off the pitch, while the locals have been in the mood for the World Cup, the impact of ticket prices was certainly noticeable.
"The locals are buying into it wherever you go, but they won't go the game," he said.
"Because the tickets are too dear, the transport is too dear. Like in New York, they just put a ticket price up to $115 for no apparent reason and they're not going to go.
"And if it tickets like a thousand or $2000, they just go, 'No, what's the point?'
"The pubs are packed, the restaurants are packed, there's a television nearly everywhere you go that you'd be able to watch every match. But it's just too expensive for them."
Watch every game of the FIFA 2026 World Cup live on RTÉ with highlights on RTÉ Sport digital platforms and live blogs on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app
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