“It's absolutely ridiculous” – FPAI on I-League matches being played in the afternoon amid severe heatwave in West Bengal

The Football Players' Association of India (FPAI) is the FIFPro-recognized representative body for the country's professional footballers. They urged the All India Football Federation (AIFF) on Tuesday to reschedule afternoon I-League matches, taking into consideration the prevailing heatwave conditions in West Bengal.

FPAI, in their official statement, underlined that it is "sad and unfortunate" that professional players are being made to play at 3.00 pm in extreme conditions. The mercury rises over 40 degrees Celsius during the afternoons.

Since the start of the I-League 2021-22 season, which is taking place in West Bengal, a set of matches have been hosted in the 3.00 pm time slot. However, the Met office on Monday issued a severe heatwave warning across Bengal.

In an exclusive interaction with Sportskeeda, Siddharth Bhattacharya, a senior manager player liaison at FPAI, further shed light on the statement from the players' association and on the gravity of the situation.

"A heatwave warning has been issued in the state. Now, I'm sure the local organizers are aware of it and they're coordinating with the All India Football Federation. So why would you have a match when the temperature is touching 40 degrees celsius? It's absolutely ridiculous."

However, he opined that the footballers playing in the I-League hadn't complained but that was because most of them are young and weren't going to voice their opinions.

So why is FPAI taking a stand?

"FIFPro has laid down certain conditions that should be maintained for a footballer to perform at his/her fullest. And these situations are definitely not up there. A footballer cannot play in such conditions without suffering the health hazards that come along with it." Siddharth answered.

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What's the path ahead for Football Players' Association of India (FPAI)?

The association first tweeted on April 25 regarding the treacherous conditions the players have been playing in. A day later, the organization has now come out with an official statement urging the federation to reschedule the 3.00 pm matches.

Siddharth Bhattacharya averred that he's unsure what steps that AIFF will take.

"The only thing the AIFF keeps reiterating is the cost involved in running the league. Now, as a federation, it's your duty to do so. I understand it's incredibly difficult to run the league. But this is not a situation in which players can play. If tomorrow anything happens to the player, who's responsible for it?"

Being part of an organization representing the players, Siddharth stated that they wanted to establish a dialog with the federation. The issue at hand, he stressed, was not trivial and involved the health of players.

Bhattacharya stated that if the AIFF doesn't take the required steps, FPAI will send an e-mail to the federation. If that doesn't help, then the organization will try to talk to senior players and ask them to get in touch with the governing body.

However, he noted that FPAI are not official stakeholders in Indian football and they aren't consulted on any matters by the AIFF. Hence, there are limitations to what the players' body can achieve only by pressuring the federation.

Asked if the situation in the IWL concerns FPAI, Siddharth said:

"It definitely does. Although we have started working with women footballers, we honestly don't have the required expertise at this point. But earlier we had taken up the issue of the country not having a proper women's footballing structure."