By Lucy Jordan
BRASILIA, BRAZIL
A court in Brasilia, the capital of Brazil, has ruled that World Cup games should be stopped for around 30 minutes when the temperature reaches 32 degrees Celsius.
According to a statement from Brasilia’s regional laborcourt, FIFA and representatives from the Ministry of Labour negotiated unsuccessfully for around two hours on Friday.
Some of the World Cup host cities experience daily highs of 32 degrees Celsius or above, despite the fact that winter is about to begin in the Southern hemisphere. Temperatures during the England-Italy game, in Manaus on June 14, and the match between Chile and Australia, on June 13, rose to 32 degrees Celsius, according to Brazil’s National Institute of Meteorology.
The court’s statement says that FIFA will have to submit reports on the ambient temperature, taking into account wind and humidity, with a penalty of R$200,000 per game for non-compliance.
In an emailed statement, FIFA said that the decision did not represent a departure from its own guidelines, but that the decision to implement a cooling break currently resided with the referee.
“For FIFA the health of the players is always the highest priority,” the note read. “Therefore, the venues with the highest average temperatures such as Manaus, Cuiaba and Fortaleza do not have any matches with 13:00 kick-off times during group stages.”
The decision can, however, be appealed.
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