Safety fears surrounding players heading to the 2026 World Cup are growing after an expert group of scientists informed FIFA that its existing measures to mitigate extreme heat were insufficient and could lead to players suffering serious injuries during the event.
Many fear that with the USA, Canada, and Mexico playing host to teams next summer, the intense heat could become one of the defining challenges during the competition.
Twenty specialists in the areas of health, climate, and sports performance have issued a public letter urging FIFA to review and improve its heat management protocols before the tournament begins.
The scientists say the current guidelines offered by FIFA do not take the most recent science into account and even questioned the basis behind some of the procedures described in FIFA’s guidelines.
Heat is a significant issue due to predictions of very high temperatures in June and July, particularly in parts of the United States and Mexico where average daytime temperatures during summer regularly climb into the mid to low-30s degrees Celsius, and sometimes approach 40 degrees Celsius during extreme weather.
However, as scientists warned, temperatures are not the sole concern, and wind, humidity, and the sheer intensity of being exposed to the elements while competing at a professional level pose significant heat stress dangers to athletes on the field.
FIFA will already enforce a compulsory three-minute pause in play in both halves of each match.
Additionally, the governing body will provide cooling facilities at every outdoor venue, which includes controlled air temperature seating for substitutes and the coaching team.
The governing body monitors heat pressure through the widely recognized Wet Bulb Globe Temperature system, which factors in both the air temperature and humidity at a given location.
Its current guidelines state that any event with WBGT approaching or exceeding 32 degrees Celsius will result in FIFA considering whether further steps need to be taken.
But experts advising on the open letter believe further measures need to be taken.
These include potentially postponing or suspending matches whenever the WBGT rises above 28 degrees Celsius, longer 6-minute cooling breaks, and provision of better cooling measures on the sideline during games.
Andrew Simms, director of the New Weather Institute and coordinator of the letter, said that the risks faced by players at the competition are a genuine and serious cause for concern because athletes are capable of rapidly succumbing to overheating conditions.
Similarly, Professor Douglas Casa at the University of Connecticut criticized the length of the current three-minute cooling break as inadequate. He recommended extending it to six minutes in order to provide meaningful recovery time for athletes.
Players are not the only ones at risk-fans will also likely experience harsh conditions due to intense heat, thunderstorms, and potential wildfire-related air quality concerns, researchers warn, that may also be prevalent in a number of host locations.
Moreover, analysis published earlier this year suggests climate change has already made the possibility of extreme heat events more likely at next summer’s tournament compared to the 1994 tournament in North America.
FIFA, however, has insisted that it is committed to ensuring the health and safety of all involved, including players, staff, and fans, with a real-time monitoring system and a site-specific risk evaluation called the “tiered heat mitigation model,” which will operate during the entire competition.
But, with less than a year to go, pressure may continue to build on FIFA to investigate further into whether their current mitigation measures are adequate for the biggest football event on the planet.
