ENGLAND stars could face longer half-times and more hydration breaks at next year’s World Cup.
And Three Lions fans at home may be forced to stay up into the early hours because daytime kick-offs on the US East Coast are a health risk.
International players’ union FifPro issued the stark warning after heatwave chaos at the Club World Cup.
FifPro director of policy Alexander Bielefeld said: “This has to be a wake-up call for Fifa.
“It’s clear that in certain areas, especially Florida, there is a higher risk and a need to avoid midday kick-offs.
“So games in these cities should be moved to a later time.
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“Health and safety of players must take priority over commercial interests, including broadcasters.”
Fifpro want Fifa to double the number of drinks breaks – to two per half – at the next World Cup.
The union also require half-time breaks to be extended to 20 minutes, instead of the maximum 15.
But the latter would need the agreement of the International FA Board.
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Fifpro also want Fifa to postpone afternoon kick-offs to the evenings if temperatures are too high.
They said such a measure should have been taken in the Club World Cup when Bayern Munich faced Benfica last week in Charlotte, North Carolina.
FifPro’s chief medical officer Professor Vincent Gouttebarge said: “Only giving players 15 minutes is not enough at these temperatures — you cannot ingest enough in such a short time.
“If we anticipate the biggest tournament on earth next year and in Mexico as well there are some venues where games played during the afternoon are likely to be very extreme for health and performance of the players.
“We are anticipating that there are going to be more problems for the coming years in the 2030 World Cup in Spain and Portugal, perhaps even worse.”
