Qatar May Be Too Hot To Play Two Halves In World Cup Games

With all the Ts crossed, the Is dotted, and the money counted, FIFA is seemingly only now realizing that it gets really fucking hot in Qatar. That's bad for fans, and it's unsafe for players. But rather than take that into account before going to the desert, they'd rather mess with one of the game's most basic rules.

One of the proposals under consideration is to do away with this whole business of two 45-minute halves. Sure, that's been the only way soccer has been played since the Laws of the Game were codified back in 1863, and likely long before that. But that's nothing in the face of oil money. According to the guy in charge of Qatar stadium cooling,

The one thing Fifa do say, although it is for guidance, is if it's 32C they will stop a match and play three 30-minute thirds rather than two 45-minute halves. The reason would be to re-hydrate the players before they could carry on playing."

Well, three periods works for hockey. And broadcasters are salivating at the opportunity to cram more commercials into the game. So maybe Qatar 2022 won't be the end of the world, just the end of soccer as we know it.

World Cup in 2022 could become a game of three halves in the 40 degree heat of Qatar [Telegraph]