Mondial 2026: 'Cooling break' controversy — DJs in stadiums to cover fees
ANSA reported: In some recent matches, during the cooling break, the DJ played songs with a loud sound to hide the fees and encouraged the fans to obey the American sports show.
According to the ANSA report, the news from New York on June 23rd revealed: Some matches during the World Cup 2026 are changing to create an American-style sports-show atmosphere instead of entertaining the customs of English and South American fans. Stadiums have a special DJ to drown out the boos from the audience during Takilar's 'cooling break' and he tries to cover up the boos by playing songs and loud music.
The report says that in some of the latest fixtures, crowd protests have come out during these breaks, with chants being heard to stop them, encouraging the crowd to gasp and sing along. To make match celebrations more entertaining in the American-style, stadiums are equipped with panels and giant screens giving instructions to the crowd: make noise, clap or cheer 'defence defence'.
As the report notes, American audiences aren't invested in the same way as classical European or South American fans: there the intervals are treated as grandiose shows. With the same intention, the half-time show at the World Cup final is also going to be a big music show in imitation of the Super Bowl — Shakira and Madonna are reportedly going to participate in the final half-time show.
In the context of these happenings, the debate continues as to why these kinds of solutions are taken and how such changes affect fan culture. There are those who want to revive the ancient voice of focusing on the talent of the player, coach and team in football matches. But the report said organizers are pursuing these avenues in making the matches into bigger shows with a view to enhancing the audience experience with high standards.
(ANSA)