News | Monday, 28th November 2022
World Cup 2022: English referee gets Qatar-heat ready with help of University experts
Experts designed a special heat training programme for World Cup referee Anthony Taylor
A specialised heat training programme – designed by experts from the Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport – has helped FIFA World Cup referee Anthony Taylor prepare for this year’s tournament.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is currently taking place in Qatar, where temperatures are reaching up to 30 degrees Celsius, despite it being winter in the country.
Anthony, who works for PGMOL and officiates in the Premier League and on the international stage, including regularly in the UEFA Champions League, has been called up as one of 36 referees chosen to officiate at the World Cup.
His first match will see him referee in the second round of the group stages, as South Korea face Ghana later today (Monday 27 November).
In preparation, Anthony – who also studies on the University’s Master of Sports Directorship course – has worked with sports performance and physiology experts from Manchester Met to get in peak physical condition in the run up to the tournament.
He said: “The climate out in the Middle East is totally different to what we are used to in Europe, and particularly in a tournament environment.
“Making sure you are at peak physical fitness so you can cope with the demands of not only a 90-minute match, but a match that goes to extra time, is really important.
“There is also the possibility, if things go well performance-wise, you might end up having to officiate two or three games in very quick succession, so it’s important to make sure your body is injury-proof and robust enough to meet the demands and the fitness of the tournament.”
University experts created a three-week training programme for Anthony, which aimed to prepare him for potential high temperatures and extreme humidity in Qatar.
“Making sure you are at peak physical fitness so you can cope with the demands of not only a 90-minute match, but a match that goes to extra time, is really important."
Dr Dale Read, Lecturer in Sports Performance at Manchester Metropolitan University Institute of Sport, said: “We’ve specially designed the heat acclimatisation programme for Anthony to get him ready for conditions in Qatar.
“Through a series of training sessions in a controlled – and challenging – environment, we have seen both physiological improvements in Anthony and perceptual improvements.
“This means that not only did Anthony’s body show signs it was adapting to the extreme conditions, but he also felt more comfortable with the training after the three week period.
“I’m positive this will be hugely beneficial to him in his matches in Qatar.”
For the programme, Anthony took part in training sessions inside an environmental chamber – a enclosed room, which is able to create and test the effects of different environmental conditions on the body.
Conditions in the chamber reached heats of up to 40 degrees Celsius and humidity levels up to 70 per cent – far more extreme than conditions in Qatar currently.
Both at the beginning of the programme and after three weeks of training, Anthony took part in a controlled test to measure the impacts of the heat-resilience programme.
The test involved Anthony running on a treadmill inside the chamber for 30 minutes at a pace of 9km per hour.
Experts measured his heart rate, core body temperature, sweat loss and took blood samples both before and after each test to assess the impacts.
He was also tested on his perception of the heat and how difficult he found the conditions throughout the course of his training.
Results showed that after three weeks of training, Anthony had lower average and maximum core body and skin temperatures, following a session in the chamber.
His heart rate was lower after being in the environment chamber and his sweat rate was greater, which indicates his body was adapting to the heat.
Dale read added: “Anthony has been extremely dedicated to his preparation for the World Cup and this shows in the results.
“We have seen improvements across the board in the test and this should allow him to deal with the heat while refereeing in the World Cup.”
