The FIFA Cooling Break Heat Policy is inadequate for female footballers🚨
A need for policy change.
Efficacy of the FIFA cooling break heat policy during an intermittent treadmill football simulation in hot conditions in trained females
Background
The current FIFA policy for matches in the heat (32°C +) consists of a 3-min break in each half of the match where players are provided chilled fluid and ice towel across neck/shoulders 🧊
Study Details
This new study investigated the effects of different cooling strategies during 5 x 90-min football simulations ⚽️
1️⃣ No Breaks
2️⃣ 3-min break + no cooling
3️⃣ 3-min break + cooling (FIFA Policy)
4️⃣ 5-min extended half-time
5️⃣ 5-min extended half-time + 3-min break + cooling
All conditions were completed at 40°C and 41 % relative humidity (32°C wet-bulb globe temperature) 🥵
Key Findings
Only the combination of an extended half time with cooling breaks resulted in significantly lower…
🌡️ Core temperature
🫀 Mean heart rate
🧠 Rating of perceived exertion
…vs other conditions.
Therefore this combination was the only approach that was able to attenuate…
🌡️ Thermal strain
🫀 Cardiovascular strain
Conclusion
The current FIFA Heat Policy offers minimal physiological or perceptual benefits to females ❌
It could therefore be deemed inadequate and should be considered for change 📝