South Korea and Togo will play under a closed roof at Frankfurt’s Commerzbank Arena on Tuesday, despite temperatures forecast to soar over 30 Celsius.
Fifa have decided to close the roof to eradicate shadows from the structure over the pitch, which are proving a distraction for television viewers.
Director of communications Markus Siegler added: “Experts suggest it will be cooler if we provide shade.”
Siegler added that Argentina’s game against Serbia and Montenegro on Friday could be played under a closed roof, saying: “We are considering the situation at Gelsenkirchen.”
Earlier, Ziegler had admitted that the images being broadcast from Germany were not ideal.
“We understand it is not nice for the million of people watching on TV to see all the ugly shadows. In Germany two of the 12 stadia – Frankfurt and Gelsenkirchen – have a roof and we are currently assessing the possibility of closing the roofs. But the main persons are the players and we will make a decision with regard to the heat.”
“We have to check the situation, what it means with regards to the heat,” said Siegler, adding that the first World Cup matches played under a roof were “like a sauna”.
“It should not be as it was in 1994 at the Silverdome when you played around noon and it was like 50 degrees (122 degrees F) or more in Detroit,” he said.
