Will there be hydration breaks in the Premier League this season?

The Premier League returns for the start of the 2026/27 season this weekend following a summer filled with hydration breaks.

All 20 clubs are in action across Friday to Monday as a new campaign of top-flight football gets underway.

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As well as a raft of new signings and three promoted clubs, a string of rule changes have been introduced.

Those include new areas for VAR to intervene, substitution changes and time-wasting deterrents.

Several of those features have previously been seen during the World Cup earlier this summer.

Another fixture of the tournament was the controversial hydration breaks.

Despite the negative response from supporters in North America and watching at home, the stoppages continued until the end of the World Cup.

However, will they be used in the Premier League this season?

What are hydration breaks in football?

FIFA’s controversial hydration breaks were introduced for the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the USA.

Following concerns over soaring temperatures at last year’s Club World Cup, they were implemented as a counter-measure to aid players during matches.

The mandatory three-minute stoppages occurred once in each half around the midway point.

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Once signalled by the referee, players would be able to take on liquids on the touchline whilst also receiving instructions from coaching staff.

Meanwhile, live TV broadcasts were permitted to show adverts during the hydration breaks.

As the World Cup progressed, the negative response to the stoppages extended to fans booing them from inside the stadium during matches.

FIFA’s head of global football development Arsene Wenger revealed after the tournament that the use of hydration breaks would be reviewed.

Their change in stance was influenced by the reaction from supporters to the stoppages in play.

Will the Premier League use hydration breaks this season?

Hydration breaks will not be implemented by the Premier League during the 2026/27 season.

Instead, matches will continue through to half-time and full-time in each half without planned stoppages.

It comes despite hydration breaks featuring in the Carabao Cup and EFL already this season.

Those stoppages have been met with loud jeers from supporters inside the stadiums at matches featuring the breaks.

Referees had signalled for hydration breaks at selected matches amid the recent UK heatwave.

The Premier League has previously implemented water breaks in the past, though.

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They were first introduced during Project Restart in 2020 after the 2019/20 season resumed in June before running into July.

Matches had been suspended in March of the same year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Water breaks were later reintroduced at the start of the 2022/23 season.

The move came after amber weather warnings were enforced due to extreme heat in areas of England and Wales ahead of the opening weekend.