The Qatar World Cup was moved seven years in advance to allow plenty of time for the global football calendar to adjust and was always considered a one-off by Fifa. A winter World Cup in 2026 would pose opposite challenges with several host cities such as Vancouver, Toronto and Seattle experiencing sub-zero temperatures.
Speaking to the BBC earlier this year, Fifa vice-president Victor Montagliani suggested stadiums would be “climate controlled”, helping players and fans at the games.
BBC Sport contacted FIFA for comment and was referred to the controls and significant considerations that are already in place. These include the monitoring of temperatures by officials – with referees advised to take water breaks when necessary, climatic controls in some of the stadiums, and the fact the allocation and scheduling of matches will aim to minimise the effects of high temperatures in line with analysis of the climate in the host cities.
Detail on exact kick-off times has not yet been released, but Prof Tipton suggested only early morning starts would offer “significant” respite.
Climate controls include roofs on some stadiums. Indoor arenas don’t guarantee a safe environment, though, with netball player Amy Steele suffering career-ending heat exhaustion when playing indoors.
Another factor will be the provision of water for the expected travelling support of at least a million people, and the related energy consumption demands to help keep fans cool inside stadiums, when public buildings have had to close this year.
It is also anticipated there will be additional training grounds which don’t have roofs.
Montagliani added: “Looking forward, it is not impossible to change tournaments, as we have seen, but I don’t think that is going to be the solution.
“Having them play winter in Toronto might not be ideal or in Chicago or in Philadelphia. I think there are pros and cons either way. The reality is, winter, summer, spring or fall it doesn’t change the fact that we need to do whatever we can to help in this whole climate and environment issue, ensuring that our footprint is as minimised as possible, through technology and how you run tournaments.”