Last night was the second leg of the Nutrlite Cup finals, or should I say the first attempt at it, but weather got in the way of what was potentially a good game. With the first leg having ended in a 1-1 draw despite Vancouver controlling much of the play things were set up for an interesting match. The weather forecast was clear that rain was expected around 8 which would mean that it would be around just in time for the second half and that is exactly what happened.
The first half saw Vancouver take a 1-0 lead thanks to Eric Hassli who scored a 17th minute strike which would have been his second of the finals having given Vancouver the lead with a similar shot in the first leg. His goal had a lot to do with the deflection that it took but based on the run of play before the ran came the lead was nothing more then what Vancouver deserved. When the rain did arrive that is when the problems began for players, officials, coaches, and the powers in charge of the championship. The turf surface at BMO field quickly became coated in water and it proved impossible to actually play the game as the ball was getting stuck and the safety of players was clearly being endangered. Thankfully thunder and lightning arrived around the 60 minute mark and the officials were forced to stall the game. This was actually the second stall as the match had been delayed by 30 minutes before the second half could kick off. They tried to wait out the storm and get the rest of the game in but by the time 11 pm rolled around fans were being sent home and some kind of decision was needed. It was clear that a match of only 60 minutes would not count and if they decided to make it official I don't think anyone would have been happy about it and it might have done irreparable damage to the cup itself and the reputation of soccer Canada.
Around 11 the coaches, refs, and officials in charge of the tournament all met behind closed doors to discuss what to do about the match. Initially it was reported that the plan would be to play the final 30 minutes of the match the following morning but it would have been in front of an empty stadium which I personally think would have been a terrible solution. That would have resulted in Toronto FC having basically lost its home field advantage for 1/3 of the match and it would also have been very physically draining on the players who would have been faced with a very quick turn around and playing a match at such an unusual time. The 8 AM kick off time seemed quite insane in light of the fact that it would have been after 11:30 by the time that they players were all able to leave BMO.
Thankfully this morning it became apparent that the field conditions had not improved since the rain had continued in the overnight overs and the whole 8 AM plan would have to be scrapped. Instead they made the decision that I think should have been made in the first place which was to scrap the entire match and start it over again at a later date. The date has been set for June 2nd when the Whitecaps are already in town for an MLS league game. This way the whole match will be played under tolerable conditions, assuming the weather is better that night, and in front of the partisan crowd that Toronto FC deserve for their home leg. I for one hope that this decision allows the match to be much more entertaining match that is fitting of ending in a team claiming the top club prize in Canadian soccer.
The strangest part of the whole night is how long it took them to come to these decisions when apparently it was all written down for them in the competition rules. As I was watching it I wondered if they even had a plan in place for such an eventuality. With the weather being such an unpredictable force it would have been very poor planning on the part of the Nutrilite championship not have put something in place. I found out this morning that it was all clearly outlined in the rules for the tournament under the following rule:
Official Nutrilite Canadian Championship rule 12: If the match is abandoned before the completion of normal playing time because of extreme weather or for reasons outside the control of the host team, the match shall be replayed in its entirety the following day, thus avoiding the considerable extra expense for the visiting team. If it is still impossible to play the match the next day for the same reasons, the match may be postponed by another day, provided both teams agree. If the match can still not be played on the third day, the expenses thus incurred by the visiting team shall be split between the two teams. A decision will be taken within two hours of the referee’s decision to abandon the match, in consultation with the two clubs concerned. In case of dispute, the CSA Organizing Committee fixes the date and kick-off time of the match. Its decision is final.
So if they want things to go a lot smoother next time the right thing to do would be getting a copy of these rules into the hands of the people who are broadcasting the match so that they can convey something useful to the fans and spectators so we are not left staying up late wondering just what is going to happen. The other issue I have here is that playing the last 30 minutes the following day does not seem to be anywhere in these rules. They suggest that the whole match would have to be replayed no matter what and that is the correct thing to do. In the end I am glad that they got this right and avoided turning this championship into a complete joke. They have worked hard to improve the standard of it and increase its profile so thankfully they did not let some bad weather undo all of that hard work.
No comments:
Post a Comment