Latest news with #PeterCrisp
DW
6 days ago
- Climate
- DW
Club World Cup: Football players and fans languish in heat – DW – 06/25/2025
Slow-paced soccer matches, sweltering players and complaints about the heat have been the themes of the Club World Cup. Organizers FIFA say they take reasonable precautions but many see a major safety concern. FIFA is "not taking the dangers of extreme heat seriously enough" and is on course for a "perfect storm" of unsafe conditions at major events like the 2026 World Cup, according to Peter Crisp from environmental advocacy group Fossil Free Football. Speaking after Bayern Munich lost to Benfica in temperatures of 36 degrees Celsius (97 Fahrenheit) at the Club World Cup in the US city of Charlotte on Tuesday, Crisp told DW that such an outcome, which has become commonplace in recent days at the Club World Cup, should have been entirely predictable to football's global governors. "This was a very obvious risk. It only took a brief look at the previous weather records from the cities involved to show that dangerous heat was absolutely going to impact this tournament, and so it's proved," he said. Bayern coach Vincent Kompany referred to the "tough conditions" in his post-match press briefings, adding that one positive of the loss, which still saw Bayern progress, is that "we don't need to play in Charlotte anymore." Unfortunately, for the German champions, the issues are not confined to one city, with a climate phenomenon known as the "heat dome" seeing record-high temperatures recorded across the east of the USA. On Saturday, in Cincinnati, it was Borussia Dortmund who struggled to cope with the 32-degree heat. Pictures of their substitutes sat away from the pitch in an air conditioned locker room seemed to strike a chord with players, clubs and fans. Dortmund coach Niko Kovac said he was "sweating like I've just come out of a sauna" at the match and that it was "tough going for both teams" while acknowledging South African opponents Mamelodi Sundowns were more accustomed to such conditions. Kompany added that the conditions made it impossible for the players to play at their maximum. "I was a little apprehensive regarding the heat and the pitch. I wasn't worried we wouldn't win, I was more concerned with the flow of the game," said Kompany. The pace of games at the tournament has generally been slow, with players attempting to conserve energy, a criticism that has been increasingly leveled at World Cups in recent years. In a statement sent to DW, FIFA said it put the health of anyone involved first and worked with clubs and local health authorities to combat any dangers. "FIFA is implementing a sound preventative concept at all venues, including cooling breaks in the 30th and 75th minutes in accordance with the relevant protocols," the statement read, while adding that fans may bring reusable plastic bottles into stadiums. "From a broader player welfare perspective, besides having the right to make a maximum of five substitutions, teams can make an additional substitution if a match goes into extra time (regardless of whether the team has used its maximum number of substitutes or not), as well as a concussion substitution. Additionally, all teams have a minimum of three rest days between matches to facilitaterecovery." Many in football, including big-name players, coaches and the global players union, FIFPRO, believe three rest days is not enough for players who, thanks to the introduction of the Club World Cup in what is usually a rest period in the calendar for most teams, are being asked to play and travel more than ever before. Indeed, FIFPRO have started legal proceedings against FIFA, partly on the basis that: "the oversaturated international football calendar risks player safety and wellbeing." Crisp sees changes to scheduling as an easy first step, questioning the logic of playing games at midday when at the Copa America last June an assistant referee collapsed due to the heat during a daytime game in Kansas City. Larger changes to the calendar may well have to follow. "I think FIFA needs to think seriously about revising the protocol to shift kickoff times to safer periods of the day if that's needed. When we saw the forecast for Bayern Munich against Benfica, we could see a week in advance that it was going to be really dangerous temperatures," he said. "But unfortunately, in a rapidly heating world, those kinds of small adaption measures are really just going to be playing around the edges." Despite being asked the question directly, FIFA did not reference what the scenes at the Club World Cup would mean for its future tournaments. Sixteen cities are to host World Cup games in the USA, Canada and Mexico in 2026. However, only five of the stadiums that will be used have roofs to provide some sun protection in a tournament set to be played at a similar time of year. "I think 2026 is almost a perfect storm where FIFA has decided to massively expand the competition, pushing it to 104 matches, which means that it's extremely likely that many of those matches are going to intersect with periods of dangerous weather, Crisp said. "Expanding the competition so heavily obviously also massively increases the amount of flying that's needed as millions of fans join their teams and travel around the whole of North America." The next two men's World Cups are due to be played in Spain, Portugal and Morocco (2030) and then Saudi Arabia (2034). Both of these countries can reasonably be expected to be under similarly hot conditions at the relevant times. The impacts on the environment, the safety of players and the quality of the games are clear to many at the Club World Cup, but FIFA boss Gianni Infantino appears happy enough with their new competition. "Those who are not there, of course, they would love to be there. So, maybe some criticize it a little bit, but it's something new, it's something special, it's something big. It is a real World Cup with the best teams and the best players," he said on Sunday.
DW
25-06-2025
- Climate
- DW
Club World Cup: Extreme heat poses questions for FIFA – DW – 06/25/2025
Slow-paced matches, sweltering players and complaints about the heat have been the themes of the Club World Cup in the USA. Organizers FIFA say they take reasonable precautions but many see a major safety concern. FIFA are "not taking the dangers of extreme heat seriously enough" and are on course for a "perfect storm" of unsafe conditions at major events like the 2026 World Cup, according to Peter Crisp from environmental advocacy group Fossil Free Football. Speaking after Bayern Munich lost to Benfica in temperatures of 36 degree Celsius (97 Fahrenheit), at the Club World Cup in Charlotte on Tuesday, Crisp told DW that such an outcome, which has become commonplace in recent days at the Club World Cup, should have been entirely predictable to football's global governors. "This was a very obvious risk. It only took a brief look at the previous weather records from the cities involved to show that dangerous heat was absolutely going to impact this tournament, and so it's proved," he said. Bayern coach Vincent Kompany referred to the "tough conditions" in his post-match press briefings, adding that one positive of the loss, which still saw Bayern progress, is that "we don't need to play in Charlotte anymore." Unfortunately, for the German champions, the issues are not confined to one city, with a climate phenomenon known as the "heat dome" seeing record-high temperatures recorded across the east of the USA. On Saturday, in Cincinnati, it was Borussia Dortmund who struggled to cope with the 32-degree heat. Pictures of their substitutes sat away from the pitch in an air conditioned locker room seemed to strike a chord with players, clubs and fans. Dortmund coach Niko Kovac said he was "sweating like I've just come out of a sauna" at the match and that it was "tough going for both teams" while acknowledging South African opponents Mamelodi Sundowns were more accustomed to such conditions. Kompany added that the conditions made it impossible for the players to play at their maximum. "I was a little apprehensive regarding the heat and the pitch. I wasn't worried we wouldn't win, I was more concerned with the flow of the game," said Kompany. The pace of games at the tournament has generally been slow, with players attempting to conserve energy, a criticism that has been increasingly leveled at World Cups in recent years. In a statement sent to DW, FIFA said it put the health of anyone involved first and said it worked with both clubs and local health authorities to combat any dangers. "FIFA is implementing a sound preventative concept at all venues, including cooling breaks in the 30th and 75th minutes in accordance with the relevant protocols," the statement read, while adding that fans may bring reusable plastic bottles in to stadiums. "From a broader player welfare perspective, besides having the right to make a maximum of five substitutions, teams can make an additional substitution if a match goes into extra time (regardless of whether the team has used its maximum number of substitutes or not), as well as a concussion substitution. Additionally, all teams have a minimum of three rest days between matches to facilitaterecovery." Many in football, including big name players, coaches and the global players union, FIFPRO, believe three rest days is not enough for players who, thanks to the introduction of the Club World Cup in what is usually a rest period in the calendar for most teams, are being asked to play and travel more than ever before. Indeed, FIFPRO have started legal proceedings against FIFA, partly on the basis that: "the oversaturated international football calendar risks player safety and wellbeing." Crisp sees changes to scheduling as an easy first step, questioning the logic of playing games at midday when at the Copa America last June an assistant referee collapsed due to the heat during a daytime game in Kansas City. Larger changes to the calendar may well have to follow. "I think FIFA need to think seriously about revising the protocol to shift kick-off times to safer periods of the day if that's needed. When we saw the forecast for Bayern Munich against Benfica, we could see a week in advance that it was going to be really dangerous temperatures," he said. "But unfortunately, in a rapidly heating world, those kind of small adaption measures are really just going to be playing around the edges." Despite being asked the question directly, FIFA did not reference what the scenes at the Club World Cup would mean for its future tournaments. Sixteen cities are to host World Cup games in the USA, Canada and Mexico in 2026. But only five of the stadiums that will be used have roofs to provide some sun protection in a tournament set to be played at a similar time of year. "I think 2026 is almost a perfect storm where FIFA have decided to massively expand the competition, pushing it to 104 matches, which means that it's extremely likely that many of those matches are going to intersect with periods of dangerous weather, Crisp said. "Expanding the competition so heavily obviously also massively increases the amount of flying that's needed as millions of fans join their teams and travel around the whole of North America." The next two men's World Cups are due to be played in Spain, Portugal and Morocco (2030) and then Saudi Arabia (2034). Both of these countries can reasonably be expected to be under similarly hot conditions at the relevant times. The impacts on the environment, the safety of players and the quality of the games are clear to many at the Club World Cup, but FIFA boss Gianni Infantino appears happy enough with their new competition. "Those who are not there, of course, they would love to be there. So, maybe, some criticize it a little bit, but it's something new, it's something special, it's something big. It is a real World Cup with the best teams and the best players," he said on Sunday.
BBC News
23-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Former Rushden Peter Crisp department store to become flats
Plans to turn part of a former department store into flats have been approved after a successful want to convert the first and second floors of the old Peter Crisp building on the High Street in Rushden into 14 Northamptonshire Council refused the application in July over concerns that some of the flats were too small and that it was too close to a nearby protected wildlife the government's planning inspectorate overturned that rejection. The upper floors of the building have been vacant since the family-run department store closed in ground floor has since been occupied by businesses including Tesco Express, an estate agency, and a to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the applicant made changes to the plans, including changing the layout in two of the flats to reduce the number of people living developer also showed evidence it had paid out money to mitigate the impact on the special protection conservation area, the inspectorate flats will include four one-bedroom and ten two-bedroom homes, each with an open-plan kitchen and living area. No parking spaces are planning inspector said the new plans fixed the original problems and published its decision on 16 May. Follow Northamptonshire news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
