Global players’ union FIFPro on Monday sounded the alarm over the dangers of playing in extreme heat at the 2026 World Cup, which will take place across the United States, Mexico and Canada.
In the wake of the Club World Cup, which ran through June and July in the US this year, FIFPro’s director of policy and strategic relations Alexander Bielefeld called the tournament “a wake-up call in the context of a warming planet”.
With many of the matches in the club tournament taking place in the middle of the afternoon in the US when temperatures often soar well past 30C, FIFPro flagged the “severe challenges to players’ and participants’ safety and health” when playing in extreme conditions.
To combat this, it said “the existing schedule (for the World Cup) and venue selections may need to be reassessed to better safeguard player health, protect fan well-being, and support optimal performance”.
The union also called for longer half-time breaks and more regular cooling breaks.
FIFPro general secretary Alex Phillips said “we are having informal discussions (with organisers) about the use of air-conditioned stadiums”, but added “nothing concrete” had arisen from talks.
Bielefeld said the “timing of the Club World Cup had a very negative impact” on players’ rest periods and their pre-season.
According to the report no players from the analysed participant clubs reached the minimum 28-day off-season and many started the current season without the minimum required four-week pre-season and re-training period.
Nottingham Forest and New Zealand striker Chris Wood told journalists on a call presenting the report: “For us as players it’s vitally important that we have the recovery period to go again.”
Source: metrotvonline.com
