An open letter signed by experts in health, sports performance and climate urges FIFA to address dangerous heat stress risk for players in the men’s 2026 World Cup. The authors of the letter said that FIFA’s current safe levels for player activity under extremely hot conditions are “impossible to justify”.
Climate change has made extreme heat more likely as a result of burning coal, oil, and gas. The “active promotion” of fossil fuels (through Aramco sponsorship) is said to represent “a conflict of interest with the protection of player welfare”.
Experts in health, climate and sports performance including the President of the UK’s Physiological Society, and top academics from the United States, Canada, Norway, Japan, France, Spain, Australia and the UK, have urged FIFA to combat the dangerous heat stress risk for players at the men’s 2026 World Cup. They have also said that FIFA should update its inadequate safety guidelines.
They argue that “players will be competing in extreme heat, with temperatures and humidity expected to soar in the 16 cities across the US, Mexico and Canada that will host the tournament”.
Professor Mike Tipton
Prof Mike Tipton, Extreme Environments Lab, University of Portsmouth & President, The Physiological Society commented:
“Competitive exercise in hot environments can lead to a range of problems from impaired performance and enforced alterations in game strategy, to the medical emergency of heat stroke. Amongst the most important ways of minimising the chance of such hazards is to employ effective interventions, including complying with internationally recognised heat-related thresholds for the postponement or relocation of events. As it stands, and due in part to climate-change driven increases in environmental thermal stress, some of the venues for the 2026 World Cup are likely to exceed the recommended heat-related “high risk” threshold, especially during afternoon kick-offs”
Safety guidelines out of alignment
FIFA’s current heat safety guidelines are said to be “out of alignment” with a lot of other guidelines that apply to people engaged in strenuous activity in hot conditions.
These include the occupational health standard recognised by FIFPRO, the professional footballers representative body, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the US Department of Labour, the US National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety, International Standards Organization and the International Cycling Union (UCI).
While it is true that cooling breaks will happen regardless of temperature in games under special measures for this World Cup, under current general FIFA rules, players might “normally be expected to play for 30 minutes at a Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) temperature of 32oc, a measure that takes into account humidity, temperature, wind speed and solar radiation. As an “indication of how extremely hot” this is, the letter points out that an air temperature of 45°C and relative humidity of 20% would give a WGBT value of 31.8oc”.
Professor Douglas Casa
Professor Douglas Casa, CEO of the Korey Stringer Institute and a Board of Trustees Distinguished Professor of Kinesiology at the University of Connecticut has stated:
“The science supports the concept that high intensity sport above a 28°C Wet Bulb Globe Temperature can compromise performance and put a player at risk. The fact that under current FIFA Guidelines action will only be taken above 32oC is far from optimal. Additionally, the hydration break in each half absolutely needs to be longer than three minutes- at least five minutes for each break and preferably six. We hope this open letter convinces FIFA to update its heat guidelines before the World Cup.”
Concerns for welfare of fans
There have often been concerns raised over the welfare of millions of fans as well as players and workers during the 2026 World Cup. FIFA has responded to these concerns by introducing a Heat Illness Mitigation and Management Task Force.
The measures undertaken by this task force include three-minute cooling breaks for players and match timings that avoid the hottest part of the day . The open letter says that the 3-minute break is “too short to have a meaningful impact on rehydration and body cooling”.
Instead, the experts recommend that there be six-minute cooling breaks, sophisticated locker room cooling technology and heat-management protocols that prioritise prevention over response. The letter urges FIFA to “adopt comprehensive guidelines in line with those suggested by FIFPRO. The authors propose cooling breaks when the WBGT reaches over 26oc and the delay or postponement of matches when the WBGT goes above 28°c”.
Professor Hugh Montgomery OBE
Professor Hugh Montgomery OBE, Professor of Intensive Care Medicine, University College London, Co-Chair, Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change, and Chair of the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change has commented:
“Climate change threatens human health and survival, now. In this regard, the World Cup shines less bright, tarnished by its core funding coming from a major polluter and by the threat posed to players by the extreme temperatures to which they may now be exposed.”
Fossil fuels and heatwaves
The burning of fossil fuels has led to heatwaves becoming more frequent. The letter tells FIFA bluntly that its “active promotion” of fossil fuels, represents “a conflict of interest with the protection of player welfare”. This is a reference to a controversial sponsorship deal with Aramco, who are the world’s largest producer of oil,
As it has expanded to 48 teams and 16 cities, it is argued that the 2026 World Cup will be the most carbon polluting ever, as there is set to be a large increase in air travel by fans and players.
It is also noted by Fossil Free Football that “sports bodies around the world are reckoning with the impacts of climate change. In 2025, brutally hot conditions saw tennis star Novak Djokovic vomit on court in the Shanghai Masters tournament, with player Holger Rune asking “do you want a player to die on court?” after being treated for heat stress”.
FIFA must stop normalising fossil fuels
There is something very wrong with FIFA these days, as it courts petro-state leaders such as President Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman of Saudi Arabia, while the deadly effects of Climate Change continue to be seen on an almost daily basis.
As the world sport football has a responsibility to set a good example and clearly the sponsorship deal with Saudi Aramco is helping to normalise the continued use of fossil fuels, long after it has been made clear that humanity must transition away from the use of fossil fuels to carbon-free energy.
The situation is made all the more urgent by the concerns outlined in the letter by experts written to FIFA, which lay out just what is at stake in this summer’s world cup.
We can only hope that FIFA will change its policies towards fossil fuels in the near future and show the responsibility expected of the governing body of the world’s favourite sport.
This article is based on a press release from Fossil Free Football.
CLICK HERE TO DONATE TO OUR CROWDFUNDER
HELP US BECOME STRONGER SO THAT WE CAN CONTINUE TO DELIVER POWERFUL CITIZEN JOURNALISM!
