Impact Of The FIFA Cooling Break Heat Policy During Simulated Match-play In The Heat

PURPOSE: Football matches are often played in hot and/or humid environments during both domestic and international competitions. Such environments, combined with the high levels of metabolic heat production during the match, can hinder the physical performance of football players and increase the risk of exertional heat illness. In order to mitigate these adverse effects, FIFA have developed a cooling break heat policy. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of this policy on attenuating the rise in core temperature by comparing different cooling and break configurations during simulated football matches in the heat. METHODS: In a 32 °C wet-bulb globe temperature environment, 12 males (age 27 ± 6 y, V̇O2peak 61 ± 7 mL·kg-1·min-1) completed five 90 min football simulations with different cooling and break configurations: regular match without cooling breaks (REG), 3-min breaks without cooling (BRKno-cool), 3-min breaks with cooling (BRKcool; current FIFA cooling break heat policy), 5-min extended half-time (ExtHTonly), and 3-min cooling breaks with 5-min extended half-time (ExtHTcool). Rectal (Tre) and skin temperature (Tsk), heart rate, whole-body sweat rate and rating of perceived exertion were recorded. Data were analyzed using linear mixed models and are presented as means and 95% confidence intervals. RESULTS: Compared to the REG match, mean Tre was lower during BRKcool (0.17 °C [0.13, 0.21]; P < 0.001), ExtHTonly (0.08 °C [0.04, 0.12]; P < 0.001) and ExtHTcool (0.22 °C [0.18, 0.26]; P < 0.001). Mean heart rate and Tsk were lower during BRKcool (6 beats·min-1 [4, 7] and 0.34 °C [0.25, 0.42]; P < 0.001) and ExtHTcool (7 beats·min-1 [6, 8] and 0.60 °C [0.51, 0.68]; P < 0.001), but not ExtHTonly (P ≥ 0.06), compared to REG. Whole-body sweat rate was comparable across all trials (P ≥ 0.08). Rating of perceived exertion was lower during BRKcool (0.4 [0.1, 0.7], P = 0.004) and ExtHTcool (0.5 [0.2, 0.7], P = 0.002) compared to the REG match. CONCLUSION: The FIFA cooling break heat policy provides slight physiological and perceptual benefits during a football simulation in the heat, compared to a regular match. However, by combining the cooling breaks with an extended half-time by 5-min, further attenuations in physiological strain are attainable. This study was funded by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA).