Join now and get your first month for just $1<\/a>.<\/p>\nThere has been major concerns about the weather during the World Cup, held during the northern hemisphere\u2019s summer where temperatures could soar at certain venues.<\/p>\n
During this year\u2019s Club World Cup, several matches kicked off in temperatures comfortably above 30 degrees. <\/p>\n
During the tournament, Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez said he felt \u201cdizzy\u201d while playing in the \u201cvery dangerous\u201d heat.<\/p>\n
It raised the question over whether \u2018cooling breaks\u2019 should be implemented at the World Cup, as they have done at times in Australia for A-League matches, which also occur largely through the summer. <\/p>\n
A recent report by a player welfare group found that 10 out of 16 World Cup venues were at \u201cvery high risk of experiencing extreme heat stress conditions.\u201d<\/p>\n
A water break during the Club World Cup.Source: AP<\/p>\n
But what\u2019s caused the biggest stir is the fact that the World Cup\u2019s \u2018hydration breaks\u2019 will take place at every match, at every venue, regardless of what the temperature is. <\/p>\n
As such, questions are being raised over whether the breaks are simply a veiled attempt aimed at serving more ads and generating more revenue. <\/p>\n
\u201cJust call it what it is. TV ad breaks,\u201d wrote broadcaster Simon Hill on X. \u201cWe had this in Australia (very briefly), and we tried to disguise it then as well. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf you\u2019re going to disrupt the game, at least be honest about it.\u201d <\/p>\n
Meanwhile, The Australia\u2019s former chief football reporter, Ray Gatt, didn\u2019t hold back. <\/p>\n
\u201cHey FIFA, You are doing your best to f**k up our game,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
\u201cBunch of morons. Tell Infantino he is an impostor and not fit to run our game.\u201d<\/p>\n
German football correspondent for The Athletic, Seb Stafford-Bloor, said that the move raises concerns for the future image of the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe worry I have with the three minute breaks at the World Cup and the move to quarterise football matches is that it will catch on and broadcasters will lobby for the extra advert space worldwide,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
Their reactions have been just the tip of the iceberg: <\/p>\n
IRAN, EGYPT OBJECT TO LGBTQ-THEMED BRANDING OF WORLD CUP MATCH<\/p>\n
FIFA is dealing with a separate World Cup controversy this week after Iran and Egypt both objected to plans by local organisers in the United States to brand their group-stage match as an event supporting the LGBTQ community.<\/p>\n
The organising committee in Seattle, Washington, where the fixture is scheduled to take place next year, had previously announced its intention to hold a \u201cPride Match\u201d coinciding with the northwestern city\u2019s Pride Weekend in late June.<\/p>\n
Following last week\u2019s FIFA tournament draw, Egypt and Iran are now slated to face off in Seattle on June 26, the Friday before.<\/p>\n
The head of Iran\u2019s Football Federation, Mehdi Taj, was quoted by local news agency ISNA as saying that Tehran and Cairo had both raised \u201cobjections against the issue\u201d, which he labelled an \u201cirrational move that supports a certain group\u201d.<\/p>\n
Taj did not mention the specific branding of the fixture.<\/p>\n
Chelsea & Spurs to face off in Sydney | 00:58<\/p>\n
On Monday, Iranian state television said Tehran would \u201cappeal\u201d to FIFA over the matter.<\/p>\n
Homosexuality is illegal in Iran under Islamic law and can be punishable by death.<\/p>\n
In a statement, the Egyptian Football Association said it had sent a formal letter to FIFA secretary-general Mattias Grafstrom, rejecting \u201cin absolute terms\u201d any activities linked to LGBTQ support during the match.<\/p>\n
The EFA said such initiatives would clash with \u201cthe cultural, religious and social values\u201d of both Egypt and Iran and urged FIFA to ensure the match would remain focused solely on football.<\/p>\n
In Egypt, homosexuality is not expressly outlawed, but is often punished under loosely worded laws prohibiting \u201cdebauchery\u201d.<\/p>\n
The EFA cited FIFA\u2019s statutes on political and social neutrality, arguing that matches should not be used to promote causes that are \u201csensitive or of a contentious nature\u201d.<\/p>\n
The 2026 World Cup will mark Iran\u2019s seventh participation in the tournament, which will be jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico.<\/p>\n
Iran and the United States have had no diplomatic relations since 1980, following a hostage crisis in the wake of the 1979 Islamic revolution.<\/p>\n
Iran had initially opted out of Friday\u2019s draw to protest the US refusal to grant visas to several members of its delegation but eventually reversed the decision.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday, Taj said some Iranian players might face visa problems over their service in the Iranian military, which includes the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) — designated a \u201cterrorist organisation\u201d by the US in 2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the World Cup, we must work on having replacement options, and we have already started that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The 2026 FIFA World Cup has bounded from one controversy to another this week with a fiasco around…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":338442,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[563],"tags":[188275,6074,2620,2095,1724,64,63,689,5578,2065,2791,100140,188277,5579,77918,188279,13201,2755,596,188285,6246,3738,188288,188284,188281,188294,46594,5575,188278,188289,188273,188295,1613,2184,188291,673,137468,2041,68108,2067,677,188293,2785,188280,188276,188292,5142,188282,188286,12540,85,68089,670,188283,22702,188290,2614,188274,3601,188272,188287],"class_list":["post-338441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-football","tag-advert-space","tag-africa","tag-agence-france-presse","tag-america","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-cairo","tag-canada","tag-central-america","tag-chief-football-reporter","tag-corps","tag-egypt","tag-enzo-fernandez","tag-extreme-heat-stress","tag-fifa","tag-florida","tag-football","tag-football-federation","tag-football-news","tag-fox-sports","tag-group-stage-match","tag-heat-stress-conditions","tag-hostage-crisis","tag-hydration-breaks","tag-internazionale-milano-f-c","tag-iran","tag-iranian-military","tag-iranian-players","tag-iranian-state-television","tag-john-raoux","tag-liverpool","tag-mexico","tag-move-raises-concerns","tag-new-south-wales","tag-news-agency","tag-north-america","tag-northern-africa","tag-northern-america","tag-oceania","tag-organising-committee","tag-orlando","tag-quarterfinal-soccer-match","tag-quarterise-football-matches","tag-replacement-options","tag-seattle","tag-seb-stafford-bloor","tag-simon-hill","tag-southern-asia","tag-sports","tag-state-of-washington","tag-sydney","tag-terrorist-organisation","tag-tottenham-hotspur-football-club","tag-tournament-draw","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unprecedented-rule-change","tag-washington","tag-water-break","tag-world-cup-match"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338441","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=338441"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/338441\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/338442"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=338441"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=338441"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=338441"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/1765088290_713_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
<\/p>\n