Канадын ойн түймрийн улмаас үүссэн утаа АНУ-ын зүүн хойд бүс нутгийг бүрхэж, Нью-Жерсид болох Испани болон Аргентины шигшээ багуудын хоорондох Дэлхийн аваргын финалын тоглолтод эрсдэл учруулаад байна.
Ням гарагт МетЛайф цэнгэлдэх хүрээлэнд болох тоглолтын өмнөхөн агаарын чанарын индекс “эрүүл мэндэд хортой” түвшинд хүрсэн нь хөлбөмбөгийн ертөнцийн анхаарлыг татаж байна. Уг асуудалтай холбогдуулан Цагаан ордон ФИФА болон Дэлхийн аваргын ажлын хэсэгтэй албан бус хэлэлцүүлэг өрнүүлж байгаа бөгөөд тоглолт болох эсэх нь тодорхойгүй хэвээр байна.
Агаарын чанарын индекс 150-аас дээш гарах нь тамирчдын эрүүл мэндэд сөрөг нөлөөтэй гэж мэргэжилтнүүд анхааруулж байна. Амьсгалын замын эмч, профессор Жэймс Халлын зөвлөснөөр, ийм нөхцөлд тоглогчдын хоолой цочрох, амьсгал давчдах, уушгины үйл ажиллагаа хямрах эрсдэлтэй тул бэлтгэлийн ачааллыг бууруулах шаардлагатай аж.
Өнгөрсөн долоо хоногт Чикаго болон Нью-Йоркт болсон хэд хэдэн спортын тоглолт агаарын чанар муудсаны улмаас хойшлогдох эсвэл цагийн хуваарьт нь өөрчлөлт ороод байна. Цаг уурчдын урьдчилсан мэдээгээр, бямба гарагт орох бороо агаарын чанарыг сайжруулна гэсэн хүлээлт байгаа ч финалын тоглолтын үеийн нөхцөл байдлыг урьдчилан таамаглахад хэцүү байна.
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Playing conditions — whether it be heat, altitude or pitch quality — have been a big talking point through the World Cup. And there have been fears it could extend to Sunday’s final, in unprecedented circumstances.
Spain and reigning champions Argentina meet in the summer tournament’s showpiece event at MetLife Stadium, New Jersey on Sunday. Kick off is set at 3pm ET/12pm PT/8pm BST.
However, in the days leading up to the final, New York has been hit with poor air quality, as a result of wildfires in Canada which have sent acrid smoke sprawling across multiple major cities in the United States.
Conditions improved significantly on Friday, but a White House official has indicated that informal discussions have taken place with FIFA and World Cup task force CEO Andrew Giuliani over the matter — so uncertainty remains.
Here,The Athletictakes a look at the situation, and how it could affect the 104th, and very last, fixture of this summer’s World Cup.
What has happened in Canada and how has this impacted New York and New Jersey?
Polluted air has swept southwards, across the Northeast of the U.S. in recent days from wildfires in northern Ontario, Canada.
The Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre (CIFFC) reported 897 active fires in the country on Friday, of which 31 were new. The majority of these were labelled by the CIFFC as being out of control.
A heat dome — an area of high pressure in the atmosphere which has scorched North America — has pushed temperatures close to 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Ontario and the U.S. Northeast this week, while Thursday saw highs of 92F(33C) in New York City. A similar temperature is forecast Friday.
This heat dome traps the smoke from faraway wildfires close to the ground, resulting in hot, humid, hazy, and ultimately unpleasant conditions.
World Cup final weather forecast: Air quality alert caused by wildfire smoke, rain may help clear
Aaron Mentkowski and Madison Eades
As of Friday, New York City remained one of the most affected regions in the U.S., with Detroit, Washington D.C. and Chicago also carrying particularly poor air quality, according to IQAir, which provides live rankings of the air quality in cities worldwide.
An expected change of weather over the weekend, with rain forecast, is projected to continue the improvement already seen and provide cleaner air for the World Cup final, but it remains difficult to predict.
On Friday, New York City’s air quality index reading — the Environmental Protection Agency’s measure of how bad the air is, recorded on its AirNow website — was up at 188. A reading of 150 or higher is considered “unhealthy” for most people. Skies in the city have been orange, with the smell of smoke in the air.
MetLife Stadium, the 82,500-capacity venue for Sunday’s World Cup final, is situated a few miles from Manhattan, New York City. However, the air quality reading in East Rutherford, where the stadium is situated, has been slightly lower than that in New York City, according to AirNow.
As of Friday morning, the A.Q.I. reading in East Rutherford was at 158, placing it in the “unhealthy” category, but projected to improve through the day.
Professor James Hull, a consultant respiratory physician at the Institute of Sport, Exercise and Health (ISEH) and the Royal Brompton Hospital in London, explained toThe Athleticthat an A.Q.I. reading of over 100 is considered an increased risk and is the stage he would advise football teams modify air exposure during training, limiting sessions to no more than 90 minutes.
“Above 150, you get in an area where you really do become concerned,” Hull said. “So that’s when we would try to modify training and assume it’s dangerous.”
New York city officials warned on Tuesday “the timing and extent of any ground-level impacts in the city remain uncertain” and people with health conditions that make them sensitive to polluted air should take caution. Officials in many cities and states have urged people to stay inside.
The Athleticcontacted FIFA to ask if there are any air quality-related protocols in place for the final.
What other sporting events have been impacted?
The Major League Soccer game on Thursday between Chicago Fire and Vancouver Whitecaps was postponed due to poor air quality in Chicago, while the MLB game the same day between the New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies had to be pushed up an hour because of similar concerns at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.
The NWSL game in New York between Gotham FC and Washington Spirit on Thursday night played out amid the worsening atmospheric conditions with USWNT forward Trinity Rodman saying afterward the “air quality was rough”. Hydration breaks took place every 15 minutes.
Gotham won 1-0 in a game disrupted by the conditions (Caean Couto/Getty Images)
By meteorologist Aaron Mentkowski
An Air Quality Alert was in effect through Thursday. This means that fine particulates within the region may approach or exceed unhealthy standards. Wildfire smoke from Canada spreading southward toward New York City will create hazy sunshine and elevated pollutant levels in the area.
On Friday, the wildfire smoke will still be in the area, but computer models are suggesting the smoke will not be as thick. Hazy skies are expected on Friday with a high temperature near 90F (32C).
Rain returns on Saturday. Showers and thundershowers are likely, with the best chance for rain late Saturday afternoon through Saturday evening. It will be cooler on Saturday with a high of 84F (29C).
Rain should help clear the smoke, though it can be difficult to predict how effective it will be.
The rain showers will linger into early Sunday morning. The rain will be tapering off and skies will be clearing in the afternoon. For the 3pm ET start of the match, the temperature will be near 85F (29C).
What impact could poor air quality have on performance?
Consultant respiratory physician Professor Hull, who recently worked with the squad of newly-promoted Premier League club Hull City, told The Athleticthat athletes playing in conditions of poor air quality “often report performance impairment because of the sensations they’re getting”.
“The particulates in the air cause irritative effects,” Hull said. “They often feel their throat is irritated, they’re having to clear their throat. There’s the sensations of feeling suffocated, coughing a lot, because the airways are getting irritated.
“That’s as important as the other far more detailed physiological things people are affected by, like asthma, or the concerns about cardiovascular effects of inhaling particulate matter.
“It can irritate the eyes as well. Players are distracted because the other sensations take them off focusing on the sharpness and need for focus on the game.”
Hull added that particulates in the air can cause broncho-constriction, the narrowing of the airways, which he said “causes the feeling of breathlessness and chest tightness, which leads people to back off in terms of their performance”. The inhaling of particulates can also affect cardiovascular health.
Spain trained in New Jersey on Thursday (Mauro Pimentel / AFP via Getty Images)
Hull said the effect of poor air quality on athletes is “very variable”, and that those with backgrounds of asthma and other airway diseases are most susceptible. “Between 15 and 20 per cent of a typical football team have asthma,” Hull said. “It’s not a small number of players that have a background of airways problems.”
There is no verified, publicly available information detailing players in the Spain or Argentina squads with historical airway problems.
World Cup finalists Spain trained in New Jersey for the first time on Thursday. The Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) said the team flew in to Newark Airport on Wednesday evening, before training at the New York Red Bulls’ Melanie Lane training grounds in Whippany.
Argentina, meanwhile, trained at Atlanta United’s training ground in Marietta, Georgia on Thursday morning, before travelling to New York that afternoon.
Hull said training in outside areas with poor air quality should be avoided and that it is not comparable to other types of adaptive training like altitude.
“You don’t generally acclimatise to it,” Hull said. “If anything, training or being exposed to a highly polluted area is more likely to establish irritative effects already.”
In positive news for fans of Argentina captain Lionel Messi, Hull said there is not “robust evidence” to suggest the 39-year-old would be more susceptible to faltering in poor air quality compared to his younger counterparts — 19-year-old Lamine Yamal, for example — if basing the comparison solely upon age.
