10 February 2010 / REUTERS, RIO DE JANEIRO
The intense heat in southern Brazil this month has led a judge in the state of Rio Grande do Sul to issuing a ban on football matches when the temperature exceeds 35 degrees Celsius.
Judge Rafael da Silva Marques ruled on Tuesday that matches scheduled to kick off between 18:00 and 19:30 (20:00-21:30 GMT) could only go ahead after the referee had checked the temperature on the pitch. Marques had already banned kickoffs between 10:00 and 18:00 last week after several players felt ill during a match in the state’s Gaucho championship that kicked off at 17:00 in 40-degree heat. “The referee must measure the temperature before the game. If it’s less than 35 degrees the match can start. If it’s 35, 36 or more, the referee should wait until the temperature goes down,” Marques was quoted as saying on the Web site of the Rio Grande do Sul labor court. “After 19:30, as the sun is no longer so strong, play can go ahead. I think it’s a measure for workers’ health and we must think about that,” he added of his decision that followed a request for action from the state’s players’ union.
