Following the abandonment of Canberra United’s Round 9 Ninja A-League Women clash against Sydney FC at Leichhardt Oval, the Australian Professional Leagues (APL) has made the decision to not reschedule. Therefore, the result will stand as a 2-0 win to Sydney FC.
“Canberra United is extremely disappointed in the decision to not reschedule the match given the circumstances,” Canberra United CEO Samantha Farrow commented.
“While we have no choice but to accept the decision from the APL, we want to make it clear to our members and supporters that we did everything we could to get the match rescheduled.”
As per the APL’s Ninja A-League Women Competition Regulations “Where a Regular Season Match is abandoned at half-time or during the second (2nd) half of the Match due to a Force Majeure Event (as determined by APL) and is not rescheduled, the result at the time of the abandonment will be deemed the final result.”
The match was suspended in the 54th minute, given significant lightning within 500m of Leichhardt Oval which also caused a power outage. In accordance with the APL’s Lightning Policy, play is suspended when lightning activity is detected within a 10km radius of the match venue.
The club’s appeal to the APL for rescheduling included:
- The entire venue lost power creating a safety and security risk for teams and stakeholders remaining at the venue waiting for the storm to pass.
- When Canberra have scored their goals this season (40% between 61-90 minutes).
- When Sydney FC have conceded their goals (53% between 61-90 minutes).
- The position in the season where there is plenty of time to arrange a rescheduled game.
A strong argument was also put forward regarding the position of our game on Wednesday night in relation to the three previous matches abandoned. All three matches had a different scoreline and all were abandoned later in the match (earliest being in the 68th minute). In addition, these games were also towards the end of the season with limited time to reschedule the games.
Canberra United strongly urges the APL to make changes in their competition regulations to specify a more reasonable point in the match (i.e. 70% through) for when the result stands, with anything less to be considered either grounds for a reschedule or a nil-all draw.
Canberra United will be making no further comment at this time.
