Nicolai Haugsted
Air quality fears grow after smoke engulfs World Cup final city
Sunday’s World Cup final was always expected to be shaped by football. Mother Nature, however, is threatening to become an unexpected supporting act after wildfire smoke drifted across the New York metropolitan area just days before kick-off.
According to BBC, air quality alerts have been issued across New York and New Jersey as smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to spread over the region, raising fresh questions ahead of the meeting between Spain and Argentina at New York New Jersey Stadium.
Smoke hangs over final preparations
Health officials have urged residents to limit strenuous outdoor activity and stay inside whenever possible as hazy skies settled across the area.
Spain arrived in New Jersey on Wednesday evening following their semi-final victory over France in Texas and trained outdoors the following day without publicly expressing concern about the conditions.
Argentina took a different route, remaining in Georgia after defeating England in the semi-finals. Lionel Scaloni’s squad is scheduled to begin training in New Jersey on Friday afternoon.
Away from the two finalists, rehearsals for Sunday’s entertainment have already been affected.
Contractor Dan Edgar said his daughter Kaitlynn, who is preparing to perform during the World Cup final, immediately noticed the conditions inside the open-air stadium.
“She’s texting me that it’s bad out there,” he said. “It’s hard to dance, she says you can feel the air, it’s heavy.”
Players have already felt the impact
Footballers have already been forced to deal with the smoky conditions elsewhere in the United States.
Wednesday’s National Women’s Soccer League clash between Gotham FC and Washington Spirit went ahead despite the orange haze covering New York, although league rules required two additional breaks in each half because of the air quality index.
Washington Spirit star Trinity Rodman admitted the conditions made life difficult for everyone on the pitch.
“Not to make excuses at all, but I think on both sides we were all like, ‘another break, another break, another break’.”
Rodman added that, in her view, the match should not have been played because of the poor air quality.
No change to the World Cup schedule
Despite the concerns, there is currently no indication that Sunday’s World Cup final will be delayed or postponed.
Organisers are expecting more than 80,000 spectators for the showpiece event, which will also feature a star-studded half-time performance.
Forecasters expect air quality to improve on Friday, while rain predicted for Saturday could help clear much of the lingering smoke before the final kicks off.
Elsewhere, poor air quality has already forced schedule changes. Major League Soccer postponed Thursday’s meeting between Chicago Fire and Vancouver Whitecaps, delaying Robert Lewandowski’s expected debut for Chicago after his recent free-agent arrival.
