Inclement weather likely to affect France's clash against Iraq: What are the FIFA protocols to deal with such situations?

XtraTime Newsdesk: Official guidelines used by FIFA during the World Cup has called for active caution in Philadelphia ahead of the Group I match between France and Iraq. The two countries are scheduled to begin their second World Cup group stage match at 10pm UK time. So far, high temperatures have been at the center of discussion during the tournament, particularly regarding FIFA's controversial use of drinking breaks during matches.

But flash floods pose a special risk in June and July in the United States, one of three World Cup host countries along with Canada and Mexico.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Weather Prediction Center found that weather reports during the "flash flood season," when flooding typically occurs within three to six hours after heavy rain, peaked during the aforementioned two-month period from 2007 to 2017. Heavy rain is expected to hit the Philadelphia area on Monday afternoon local time during the France-Iraq game.

According to FIFA regulations, if lightning strikes within eight miles of a stadium, fans must be removed from their seats and the match must be canceled or postponed. All players must be removed from the field and take cover. Once cleared to return to the field, both teams will be able to participate in a short warm-up, with matches only resuming after 30 minutes without flash.

Early warnings were in effect for parts of the Philadelphia area Monday afternoon and evening. NBC10 Philadelphia predicts a risk of "heavy rain, damaging winds and even isolated tornadoes" during the first warning from 3 p.m. local time to 5:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. local time. Philadelphia uses Eastern Daylight Time (EDT), which means the France-Iraq match will start at 5:00 p.m.

It notes that while "a few severe thunderstorms" could occur during the day, the greatest threat is in the evening due to a combination of "heavy rain, damaging winds and an isolated tornado threat." CBS reports that bad weather could also cause power outages, which could affect technology used by FIFA at the World Cup, such as goal-line technology and VAR.

Official U.S. government guidelines state that if lightning strikes, you should wait at least 30 minutes after the last storm has passed before continuing with outdoor activities, due to residual electrical charges in clouds. The three main criteria used to determine when to stop an activity are if lightning is visible, if thunder is heard or if the sky is “threatening”.

The guidelines say the significant lightning threat extends from the base of the storm cloud "approximately six to ten miles."

While disqualifications for weather reasons are relatively rare in elite football competitions, they have occurred twice at this century's European Championships.

In 2012, play was suspended just five minutes into the Euro match between France and Sweden due to heavy rain and lightning in Donetsk, Ukraine. UEFA regulations stated that if the match could not be restarted, it would be postponed and rescheduled for the same time the following day.

Thankfully, after an approximately hour-long stoppage, both teams were able to continue and the match was played all the way to the end. During Euro 2024, the match between Germany and Denmark was suspended for 25 minutes due to a severe storm.

Players first headed to pitchside and then were taken back to their dressing rooms, while fans were evacuated during the suspension. If weather conditions are so bad that Monday's match between France and Iraq is postponed, there is no official limit on when the match must be played, but there is clearly a point at which a decision to postpone will be taken if necessary.

If a match cannot be completed, it will resume from the moment it was interrupted on the day of the rescheduled match. That will most likely happen Tuesday, with the NBC10 service predicting showers will "weaken overnight" and no severe weather is expected after that.

(Photo Courtesy: French Football/Twitter)