Objective To evaluate the efficacy of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) cooling break policy against alternative cooling configurations in attenuating thermal strain during simulated football in the heat. Methods 12 males (age: 27±6 years, V?O2peak: 61±7 mL/kg/min) completed five 90 min intermittent treadmill football match simulations in 40°C and 41% relative humidity (32°C wet-bulb globe temperature) with different cooling configurations: regular match without cooling breaks (REG), 3 min breaks without cooling (BRKno-cool), 3 min breaks with cooling (BRKcool: current FIFA policy; chilled fluid ingestion and ice towel across neck and shoulders), 5 min extended half-time without cooling breaks (ExtHTonly) and 3 min cooling breaks with 5 min ExtHT (ExtHTcool). Rectal temperature (Tre), heart rate, whole-body sweat rate (WBSR) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) were recorded. Data are presented as mean (95% CIs). Results Final Tre was lower in BRKno-cool (0.20°C (0.01, 0.39), p=0.038), BRKcool (0.39°C (0.21, 0.57), p<0.001) and ExtHTcool (0.40°C (0.22, 0.58), p<0.001) than REG (39.1°C (38.8, 39.3)). Mean Tre was lower in ExtHTcool (38.2°C (38.0, 38.4)) than BRKcool (38.3°C (38.1, 38.5), p=0.018), BRKno-cool and ExtHTonly (38.4°C (38.2, 38.6), p<0.001) and REG (38.5°C (38.3, 38.7), p<0.001). Mean heart rate was lower during BRKcool (6 beats/min (4, 7), p<0.001) and ExtHTcool (7 beats/min (6, 8), p<0.001) compared with REG. WBSR was comparable across trials (p=0.07) and RPE was attenuated during BRKcool (0.4 (0.1, 0.7), p=0.004) and ExtHTcool (0.5 (0.2, 0.7), p=0.002), compared with REG. Conclusion BRKcool and ExtHTcool attenuated thermal, cardiovascular and perceptual strain during a simulated football match in the heat. Additional strategies may be required in field settings or under harsher conditions.
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