Chelsea's Enzo on U.S. temps: 'change schedule'

Chelsea's Enzo Fernández has said the playing conditions astatine the Club World Cup are "very dangerous" and urged FIFA to "change the schedule" astatine the 2026 World Cup to debar putting players astatine hazard successful the tourney adjacent year.

Extreme vigor during the Club World Cup successful the United States has led to respective high-profile players and coaches voicing their concerns implicit the conditions.

Global players' national FIFPRO has shown information indicating that 3 games should person been delayed oregon postponed owed to the vigor exceeding their threshold of 28 degrees Celsius connected the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature gauge (WBGT).

Chelsea's semifinal triumph against Fluminense successful New Jersey's MetLife Stadium connected Tuesday saw temperatures of 96 degrees Fahrenheit erstwhile the crippled kicked disconnected astatine 3 p.m. ET.

With the Premier League squad acceptable to look Paris Saint-Germain successful Sunday's last the aforesaid venue astatine 3 p.m. ET, Argentina midfielder Enzo said helium has struggled to header with the conditions.

"Honestly, the vigor is incredible," Enzo said. "Honestly, I don't cognize [how to explicate it].

"The different time I got a spot dizzy during a play. I had to prevarication down connected the crushed due to the fact that I was truly dizzy. Playing successful this somesthesia is precise dangerous, it's precise dangerous.

"Moreover, for the spectacle, for the radical who travel to bask the stadium, for the radical who ticker it astatine home. The game, the velocity of the crippled is not the same, everything becomes precise slow."

The United States volition co-host adjacent year's 48-team World Cup with Canada and Mexico during June and July 2026.

And Enzo said that the tourney indispensable beryllium reassessed to guarantee that the vigor does not interaction connected the contention adjacent summer.

"Let's anticipation that adjacent twelvemonth they alteration the schedule," Enzo said. "At slightest truthful that it remains a beauteous and charismatic shot spectacle, right?"

Former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger, who present heads up FIFA's planetary shot development, has admitted that the summertime vigor during the Club World Cup has affected play.

"The vigor successful immoderate games was a problem," Wenger admitted. "We tried to combat that with cooling breaks and watering the pitches during breaks. We learned a batch connected that front."

Looking ahead, Wenger said FIFA is considering utilizing covered stadiums successful cities specified arsenic Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Houston to big aboriginal matches successful adjacent year's tournaments.

He besides said that FIFA analysts person studied the interaction of vigor connected subordinate performance, uncovering that temperatures supra 35 C (95 F) impact high-speed moving and sprints much than wide distances covered.

"Certainly adjacent year, determination volition beryllium much roofed stadiums arsenic we person to travel the TV schedule. We are learning to beryllium amended equipped to woody with these conditions," Wenger said.

Information from Reuters was utilized successful this report.