U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra says if smoke from Canadian wildfires continues to blanket Latest Jersey ahead of the World Cup final on Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump is not going to hesitate to ask the sport be postponed.
“If the pollution is so bad that it’s dangerous to the players or it’s dangerous to the fans, the primary person to say don’t hold the sport will likely be the President of the US,” Hoekstra told Global News in an exclusive interview.
Hoekstra said conversations with FIFA were currently happening concerning the air quality ahead of the ultimate between Spain and Argentina.
“We’re not going to jeopardize the health and well-being of the players, or from people all over the world, by setting a game that’s in unsafe conditions,” said Hoekstra.
The ultimate is ready for Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium, an open-air venue in East Rutherford, N.J., where air quality reached “unhealthy for everybody” levels on Friday, in response to the U.S. Air Quality Index.
Trump is anticipated to attend the ultimate and hand out the FIFA World Cup trophy to the winners of the match.
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Smoke from Canadian wildfires has blanketed large parts of the US, estimated to be impacting over 100 million Americans, resulting in threats of additional tariffs on Canada from the U.S. president.
Air quality was enough of a priority on Thursday night that MLS postponed the Chicago Fire-Vancouver Whitecaps soccer match scheduled to be played at Soldier Field in Chicago. The MLB also had not less than one baseball game postponed and others moved resulting from the harmful air quality.
“You may sense the atmosphere a bit and you possibly can see there’s smoke within the air,” said Spanish midfielder Mikel Merino on Friday, a day after his team trained outside in hazardous conditions ahead of the World Cup final.
“But for a game that’s as necessary as a World Cup final, you’ve gotten to find a way to shut out external aspects as much as possible.”
The anticipated air quality for the weekend outside Latest York is “not extreme by any measure. Also not optimal,” said Christopher Carlsten, the top of the Respiratory Medicine Division on the University of British Columbia.
“On Sunday, what’s predicted in the present models, again, subject to vary, is pollution levels of 10 to twenty micrograms per cubic meter. And simply to put it in perspective, the really useful for overall health within the World Health Organization is closer to five.”
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