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If reports from Qatar are to be believed, then the format of the beautiful game can undergo a big change as the Middle-eastern nation host their first ever Fifa World Cup. A Qatari engineer has deduced that during the World Cup 2022 that’s going to be held in the sunny country, temperatures could rise a considerable amount during the summer, resulting in the game-time being changed from a format of 45 minuted per two halves, to three thirds each ranging till thirty minutes of play time.
Michael Beavon, the director of Arup Associates told delegates at the Qatar Infrastructure Conference that the air-cooling would maintain a comfortable temperature of around 24 degrees Celsius in the stadiums. The delegates were assembled in London, and the news was given to them there itself. Arup Associates are the company who helped to develop the zero-carbon solar technology that will cool the 12 stadiums during the extremely warm Qatari summers.
The Al Khor stadium in Qatar, designed for the 2022 World Cup.
Beavon said, “There is a moderate risk of heat injury to the players between 24C-29C but if you go above that you have high and extreme risk of injury. The one thing Fifa do say, although it is for guidance, is if it’s 32C they will stop a match and play three 30-minute thirds rather than two 45-minute halves.” He went on, “The reason would be to re-hydrate the players before they could carry on playing. That of course would play havoc with TV schedules and those kind of things. The commitment from Qatar was to provide conditions in the moderate band, so that matches would go ahead and be played as normal. Matches have to be played at an acceptable temperature and in safety so that Fifa do not intervene“. A change of game-time would throw in much controversy to the decision of hosting a World Cup at such extreme conditions and would require the approval from the International Football Association Board to be taken into initial consideration.
However, a spokesperson representing Fifa said that such a metamorphosis of game rules was not a part of the Football governing body’s agenda. He added, “This possibility has not been discussed. In any case, this would require a change in the Laws of the Game, and therefore would have to be analysed and approved by IFAB (International Football Association Board) in the first place.“
