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FIFA President Gianni Infantino said the stadium covered at the 2026 World Cup will be used after Heat Concerns dominated the US-based Club World Cup.
“All the criticism we receive is a source of information to help us study and analyze what we can do better,” Infantino told reporters at a media conference in New York. “… Cooling breaks are very important and we know what we can do, but we have stadiums with roofs and we will definitely use these stadiums next year.”
The decision comes ahead of the Paris Saint-Germain vs. Chelsea Club World Cup final at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, with temperatures expected to be 83 degrees Fahrenheit at kickoff. However, humidity can feel like 91 degrees Fahrenheit at the start time of 3pm.
Blues midfielder Enzo Fernandez once again drew attention to the heat during a media session during practice.
Some of the world’s best club soccer teams will compete in World Cup-style tournaments in the US.
“To be honest, the heat is incredible,” Fernandez said Friday. “I felt a little dizzy the other day while playing. I was really dizzy so I had to lie down on the ground.
FIFPRO, the FIFA players union, gave pre-soccer body pre-tournament advice on postponing the club’s World Cup kickoff time, but that was not covered.
FIFPro also said the additional heat mitigation measures include a 20-minute halftime break instead of 15 minutes, which could help lower the player’s core temperature, and could include a cooling break in play every 15 minutes. The breaks were only taken in half of each, 30 minutes.
The Club World Cup also saw some thunderstorm delays with games held on the East Coast, with the Chelsea Ben Fi Colour of 16 games being postponed for two hours.
“I honestly think it’s kidding, it’s not football,” said Chelsea head coach Enzo Maresca. “It’s not for us, you can’t be inside [for so long].
“It’s completely new, but I have a hard time understanding. I can understand that you need to pause the game for security reasons. But if you pause seven games, that means that it’s probably not a good place to do this competition.”
No specific plans are yet known as to whether a new cover stadium will be used or whether the current uncovered stadium will be replaced.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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