CHELSEA’S battle with the Club World Cup heatwave has taken a new twist – with sniffer dogs wearing Crocs to protect their paws from red-hot pavements.
That was the bizarre sight which greeted the Blues squad when they arrived for their Group D game last Friday against Brazilians Flamengo.
Security rules mean all team buses and staff must pass through checks like everyone else.
And with temperatures soaring into the high 30s and a ‘code red’ health warning being issued by the local authorities, sniffer dogs are being issued with protective shoes.
Panting pooches patrolling the Club World Cup stadiums are also wearing the plastic sandals to stop them from scorching the soft underside of their four feet.
Chelsea lost 3-1 to Flamengo in a game that kicked off at 2pm local time when the heat was at its most severe.
And the weather is forecast to get even hotter over the next few days as the squad prepares to face Tunisian side ES Tunis in a decisive match.
Chelsea are second in their group and look set to face German giants Bayern Munich if they progress into the knockout stages.
The tournament has been overshadowed by extreme weather as the climate crisis takes its toll on daily life.
Last week, a tornado alert was declared on mobile phones throughout the area of Philadelphia.
The ‘code red’ warning was followed by predictions of temperatures topping 40C in the coming days.
It means specialist cooling centres are opened and the water companies are banned from cutting anyone off.
Munich and former Tottenham striker Harry Kane told of how he has come off from his two matches so far ‘cramping’ with dehydration.
Borussia Dortmund subs, meanwhile, watched the action from inside the dressing room to avoid sitting in the uncovered dugouts at the TQL Stadium in Cincinnati.
There are also concerns that next summer’s 48-team World Cup, which is being staged in the US, could be adversely affected by the global rise in temperatures.
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