The Football World Cup is just around the corner. This year, the tournament will take place in North America, a location with about a 6 to 9 hour time difference from the Netherlands. This time difference has a major impact, both for our players and for fans at home. BioClock researchers Roelof Hut and Laura Kervezee spoke about this in the media.
Late games
When you travel to a different time zone, your body often feels tired and confused because your internal biological clock still thinks you’re in the old time zone. This is what we call jet lag. The Dutch national team will experience a significant jet lag after traveling to the U.S., but how does this affect their athletic performance? NTR Wetenschap asked BioClock researcher Laura Kervezee. Curious about what she had to say? Watch the full video below.
Playing with a jet lag?
The biological clock isn’t safe on the home front either, as BioClock researcher Roelof Hut explains to NOS. Due to the time difference, many matches take place in the middle of the night or very early in the morning. Nevertheless, many fans are planning to watch, and bars and cafés are even opening specially at night.
Roelof, who also advises the Dutch national team on how to deal with time differences, warns against watching at night: “The effects add up. Anyone who wants to get through this World Cup in a healthy way should just go to sleep and watch the highlights later. Those who do watch at night would be wise to do so in as calm an environment as possible, with as little light as possible.”
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