FIFA have been urged to scrap “high risk” kick-off times at the World Cup next year.
Soaring temperatures in several North American cities have led to adverse weather conditions and delays at the Club World Cup.
There is now growing concern for player safety with water breaks deemed insufficient by some experts.
FifPro, a global players union that represents more than 70,000 pros, has called for changes to be made at the World Cup.
They want midday and afternoon matches scrapped in “extremely high risk” cities such as Miami, Monterrey and Kansas City.
Boston, Philadelphia and Guadalajara have been deemed “very high risk” while Los Angeles and New York/New Jersey are “high risk”.
FifPro director of policy Alexander Bielefeld said the issues at the Club World Cup has to be a “wake up call” for Fifa, and calls have been made to move matches to a later kick-off time.
FifPro’s medical director Dr Vincent Gouttebarge outlined the potential health risks involved in playing in extreme heat.
He said: “From our research, a couple of cities and some matches on the ongoing Club World Cup can be labelled as having a higher risk for heat-related illness, or, in the worst case, extreme high risk for heat-related illness.
“There are certain areas in a country that will be more at risk. So think about match destinations such as Orlando or Miami, for example, where you can see over a period of years that there’s a higher risk attached to these venues and destinations.
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“The question is, if we look at match scheduling and match planning ahead of the tournament, if we actually need midday kick-off times in these locations or in these high-risk areas — if we should probably move towards late kick-off times as a preferences for these venues.”
One expert, Professor Mike Tipton of Portsmouth University, a leading specialist on the effect of extreme temperature on the human body, has called for next year’s World Cup final to be played at 9am.
