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World Cup organizers said Friday they were “monitoring closely” the smoke gripping swaths of the United States ahead of the tournament’s weekend final in New Jersey.
“There’s been discussion about it, and we have somebody with the National Weather Service that sits in FIFA headquarters there, so we’re monitoring closely,” Andrew Giuliani, White House World Cup task force executive director, told a briefing.
Officials urged people to stay indoors or wear masks outside as air quality reached unhealthy to hazardous levels, prompting concerns about teams training outdoors.
“These are high-level athletes who are moving a lot of air through their lungs during every practice in every game, and really they shouldn’t be practicing outside if the air quality levels are at hazardous sort of ranges for wildfire-related air pollution,” said Dr. Courtney Howard, an emergency room physician and Global Climate and Health Alliance official.
“That’s the time to schedule a practice inside. You could put an N95 mask on them, but trying to make sure that everybody’s mask is well-fitted, I suspect that’s not the best choice. I would go find an air-conditioned indoor facility that’s a clean-air shelter.”
On Thursday, Spain trained outdoors in northern New Jersey ahead of the World Cup final despite hazardous air quality caused by smoke from Canadian wildfires.
Argentina stayed in the Atlanta area to train less than 24 hours after coming from behind to beat England and reach a second consecutive World Cup final.
Marietta, Georgia, lies far enough south to avoid the wildfire smoke drifting southeast from northern Ontario, which has prompted air-quality warnings across the US Midwest and Northeast.