FIFA faces heat challenge as climate risks rise ahead of 2026 World Cup
With temperatures rising worldwide, scientists warn that staging the World Cup and other football tournaments in the Northern Hemisphere summer is getting increasingly dangerous for both players and spectators.
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Some suggest that FIFA may have to consider adjusting the football calendar to reduce the risk of heat-related illnesses. 'The deeper we go in the decade, the greater the risk without considering more dramatic measures, such as playing in the winter months and/or cooler latitudes,' said Prof. Piers Forster, director of the Priestley Centre for Climate Futures in Leeds, England.
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'I'm getting increasingly worried that we are only one heatwave away from a sporting tragedy and I would like to see governing bodies lean into the climate and health science.' Tournament football in June and July is a tradition going back to the first World Cup in 1930. Since then, the three-month period of June, July and August globally has warmed by 1.05 degrees Celsius (1.89 degrees Fahrenheit), according to the US National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration.
Meanwhile, European summer temperatures have increased by 1.81 degrees C. The rate of warming has accelerated since the 1990's. Climate scientists say that's a factor that needs to be considered when playing high-intensity outdoor sports like football.
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'If you want to play football for 10 hours a day, they'll have to be the hours of the early morning and late evening,' climatologist Friederike Otto from Imperial College, London, told The Associated Press in an email, 'if you don't want to have players and fans die from heatstroke or get severely ill with heat exhaustion.' Extreme heat and thunderstorms made an impact on FIFA's newly expanded tournament for club teams.
The Club World Cup was held in 11 American cities from June 14 to July 13. FIFA adapted by tweaking its extreme heat protocol to include extra breaks in play, more field-side water, and cooling the team benches with air fans and more shade. Still, Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernández said the heat made him dizzy and urged FIFA to avoid afternoon kickoffs at the World Cup next year.
The global football players union, FIFPRO, has warned that six of the 16 World Cup cities next year are at 'extremely high risk' for heat stress. FIFA President Gianni Infantino addressed the heat concerns on Saturday, saying the handful of World Cup stadiums that are covered would be used for day-time games next year.
FIFA has stuck to its traditional June-July schedule for the men's World Cup except in 2022 when it moved the tour nament to November-December to avoid the summer heat in Qatar. Something similar is expected when neighbouring Saudi Arabia hosts the tournament in 2034.
However, moving the World Cup to another part of the year is complicated because it means Europe's powerful football leagues must interrupt their season, affecting both domestic leagues and the Champions League.
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