Amateur footballers to face more heat stress in future matches due to climate change

Due to climate change, amateur football players will play more matches in hot weather in the future, the meteorological institute KNMI and the football association KNVB concluded in a joint study. They recommended adapting to the warmer conditions to maintain the viability of the Netherlands’ most popular sport.

“The viability of football depends heavily on the weather. The recent World Cup once again highlighted how heat, thunderstorms, and heavy rainfall can affect football matches,” the KNMI said. “In the Netherlands, prolonged drought at the start of the new amateur football season rendered many pitches difficult or impossible to play on.”

For the study, researchers connected data from over 14 million amateur football matches to weather and climate data between 2005 and 2024. “Climate change will noticeably alter the conditions under which amateur football matches are played,” the KNMI said. “Warmer winters mean that playing conditions during the winter months become more favorable in terms of cold stress. At the same time, warmer summers lead to an increase in the number of matches played under conditions of high heat stress.”

Clubs can adapt to the warmer conditions, for instance, by scheduling more water breaks and ensuring adequate shaded areas. But according to the KNMI, the only real remedy is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to minimize the extent of the necessary adaptations.

The meteorological institute also urged further research to determine the specific level of heat stress at which amateur footballers’ health is in danger. “This would allow for a better assessment of when measures are required and facilitate the development of more targeted heat policies — such as a warning system to alert amateur clubs in advance for upcoming heatwaves.”