Players ask FIFA to scrap early kick-offs and say Chelsea match should have been called off

Two matches at the Club World Cup – the games between Paris Saint-Germain and Atletico Madrid and Chelsea and Esperance Club Tunis – took place at swltering temperatures

Players have contacted their unions to raise concerns over the heat in the Club World Cup.

Global players’ union FIFPro also say two of the games in the tournament – including Chelsea ’s game with Esperance Club Tunis – should have been called off as the temperature was over 30 degrees and was too hot. They have also called on FIFA to scrap 12 noon kick offs ahead of next year’s international World Cup in the United States.

Alex Phillips, of FIFPro, said: “We have players who have been in touch with their unions on these issues. But it’s a matter for the unions to disclose that.

“We will plead to FIFA. We will use common sense arguments. We can use the MLS protocols – they don’t play matches at midday in Florida, for example, and haven’t done for a number of years. So those kind of arguments are strong and we will try and use them as best we can.”

READ MORE: Chelsea star Romeo Lavia eyes Club World Cup glory after ‘craziest game I’ve played in’READ MORE: Lionel Messi interview that went unpublished comes to light – ‘I didn’t talk to them’

FIFPRO Medical Director Prof. Dr. Vincent Gouttebarge added: “In our position, obviously we have a threshold where the game should be postponed and re-scheduled.

“The answer is quite straightforward, of course. The threshold? It is a WBGT of 28 degrees.

“According to our position, these games ( PSG v Atleti / Chelsea v Esperance) should have been postponed to a better place in the day and, if not available, then rescheduled.”

Chelsea boss Enzo Maresca had called the heat “almost impossible” as his Blues side tried early in the day to prepare for the match against Esperance in Philadelphia last Tuesday.

“It’s almost impossible to train, or to make a session because of the weather now,” Maresca said in his pre-match press conference.

“We are trying just to save energy for the game. This morning’s session was very very very short, and it has just been about tomorrow’s game plan and that’s it, no more than that.

“Because as you can see it’s not easy with these conditions, with this temperature, but we are going to try to do our best.

“I always try to avoid excuses, but I try to be honest: it’s not about excuses, it’s about reality. It is an excuse when it is not hot and we say that it is hot. That is an excuse.

“But if it’s hot, it’s hot. And it is difficult to work with this temperature. But we are here, we are trying to do our best and we are going to try to win again. This is the only thing that we can say and we can do.”

DAZN has the rights to the full competition in the UK and the only way football fans can watch every game of the tournament free is by signing up here as part of a DAZN Freemium subscription.