Players' union right to take on FIFA over USA World Cup heat

The Club World Cup 2026 will be remembered for a lot of things, not many of them being the football, which was largely forgettable.

The side story - and indeed the bigger story - that emerged during the recent USA-hosted competition was the weather, and indeed the scorching temperatures that players were forced to operate in. It has been much discussed in GSPN's Road to World Cup 26 podcast.

With temperatures regularly around 30 degrees celcius for the early kick offs, and high humidity adding to the problems, Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez called conditions "very dangerous" and said he felt dizzy playing.

Chelsea players swelter in the USA heat. Source: The Guardian

He wasn't the first to complain; from the very first whistle to the last coaches, supporters and players were regularly flagging the difficultuties of playing and watching in extreme heat.

FIFPRO, the global football players' union, put out an incendiary statement accuding FIFA of putting profits before player safety, while calling for FIFA to extend half time to 20 minutes and include regular drinks breaks during the games.

It may be forced to move the schedule from lunchtime and early afternoon kicks to 3pm and 6pm kick offs, or start games early in the morning, which faces playing havoc with the highly lucrative Europe-focussed TV schedules. Plus with an expanded competion next year seeing 48 teams take part instead of the previous 32, it's going to be harder to move things around.

To add to FIFA's woes, there is no sign of anything getting better in the future, with climate scientists warning of games at the 2030 World Cup in Spain, Portugal and Morocco, potentially having to start in 40 degree temperatures and above.

FIFA responded by saying that games in four stadia, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Vancouver, will be used as much as possible fir daytime kicks off because they have roofs and air conditioning. But that is only 4 out of the 11 stadia spread right across Canada, the USA and Mexico. It is a start, but only that.

While politicians, scientists and other stakeholders will have their say, it is realistically only the players who have the power to force change, which is why the FIFPRO statement packed such a punch. They are right to place players' welfare at the "centre of every decision" made about the game.

The key question is though, with billions of pounds at stake, will FIFA listen?