Title : SCG's 'patchwork quilt' surface blamed in Victory striker's injury
link : SCG's 'patchwork quilt' surface blamed in Victory striker's injury
SCG's 'patchwork quilt' surface blamed in Victory striker's injury
Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat has attacked A-League decision-makers for giving an "unsafe" SCG surface the green light on Saturday.
Key points:
- Melbourne Victory player Terry Antonis went down injured in the second half
- Victory coach Kevin Muscat called the pitch "dangerous"
- The SCG is hosting AFL, NRL, Super Rugby and A-League games in 2019
The defending champions will be sweating on scans on Terry Antonis after the key attacker collapsed onto the turf untouched in their Big Blue loss to Sydney FC.
Muscat was unable to confirm whether the injury came a result of the pitch — described as a "patchwork quilt" by commentator Andy Harper — however replays showed his leg appeared to give way on the edge of the cricket square.
Muscat refused to use the conditions as an excuse for their 2-1 defeat, and lauded both teams for putting on what was a high-quality contest.
But that didn't stop him from launching a scathing tirade on the game's administrators for allowing the match to go ahead.
"If nothing gets said, we're just accepting it as a code," Muscat said.
"The result is one thing tonight. But to ask players to come and work under those conditions is unacceptable.
"It might be a serious injury as a result from it. And for players to go out onto that, whatever it's called, is a disgrace.
"It's part of the reason everyone else treats us with contempt. All the other codes treat us with contempt because we accept it ourselves.
"Instead of looking outside, let's look at ourselves. As a code, it's a real indication of where we are at."
PFA demand independent inquiry
The Professional Footballers Association (PFA) released a statement on Sunday morning in which boss John Didulica demanded answers as to how the game was allowed to proceed.
The statement said the game should never have started, "given the deplorable state of the SCG's pitch, and the clear danger it posed to player safety".
"The players confirmed with us last night that they were not consulted at any stage on whether or not the match should proceed, notwithstanding the clear issues that the pitch presented to their livelihoods," Didulica said.
"[We ask that the] FFA immediately commission an independent investigation into the process undertaken to approve last night's match as being fit for play."
Under the laws of the game, the decision to play lies with the referee, on this occasion Alex King, but Didulica absolved the 26-year-old Queenslander of any blame.
"The increasing complexity of match day operations makes it inconceivable that a referee would, or should, make such a decision in isolation of stakeholders," Didulica said.
The PFA also said that they would, "endorse a motion that players will no longer play on surfaces unacceptably compromised by a cricket wicket".
"As demonstrated last night, cricket wickets present an unreasonable danger to the health and safety of footballers, and it remains the view of the PFA that players are under no obligation to participate in matches when such risks are present. This includes the SCG."
Sydney FC are scheduled to play current league leaders Perth Glory at the SCG on April 18 — a match that could yet determine who wins the Premiers plate — but the club has said that they were looking at other venue options.
Melbourne Victory's Swedish midfielder, Ola Toivonen, has also come out swinging, saying in a tweet that the pitch was "unacceptable".
'It was dangerous'
It is the second time in a month the SCG surface has come under fire, with the venue having also been forced into emergency work ahead of a round-one NRL fixture in early March.
It came just days after a NSW Waratahs rugby union game tore up the ground, resulting in 3,000 square metres of turf being re-laid.
The A-League furore is the latest in a string of controversies across Sydney's sporting codes as Allianz Stadium undergoes a reconstruction.
Last month, Sydney Roosters winger Brett Morris also blamed at a Sydney pitch when he injured his knee on an agricultural surface at Brookvale Oval.
It has forced regular SCG tenants the Sydney Swans to share the venue with Sydney FC, Sydney Roosters, and the Waratahs in a jam-packed schedule.
Muscat said the track wasn't even conducive to a ball rolling, and was concerned the game would simply sweep the issue under a rug.
"It was dangerous, first and foremost," Muscat said.
"I've never seen a surface where there's three different types of grass.
"In the middle it was ridiculously hard and unsafe as far as I'm concerned."
"I understand Sydney have had difficulties with venues because of the stadium across the road being not available.
"[Whoever] went out and had a look at it, they should be here answering questions about how that was passed fit to play football.
FFA board member Remo Nogarotto said on Twitter that he was "not familiar" with how surfaces were approved, but that the pitch at the SCG was "unacceptable."
'The players don't want to be seen to be trouble makers'
Former Socceroos goalkeeper Mark Bosnich said on Fox Sports after the match that looking after the players' welfare should be paramount to determining playing venues.
"The players' health and safety is the most important thing," Bosnich said.
"There's different codes that play on [the SCG surface]: rugby league, rugby union, and so do AFL — that's totally understandable.
"If you have to move it, then you have to move it, or you are putting at risk the clubs' and game's greatest assets, which is the players."
Bosnich also said that the players themselves hold back on criticising playing surfaces, and that the quality of football would suffer if players were concerned over their footing.
"The players, and I would say especially in this country, are reluctant to make too much noise about certain things because they don't want to be seen to be troublemakers," Bosnich said.
"They can leave the trouble making to someone like me, because it's in their interest and in the game's interest and especially in the clubs' interest.
"Sydney FC, we're talking about the clubs' greatest assets. That is their players.
"We don't know 100 per cent that the pitch had anything to do with what happened to Terry Antonis — we're only speculating and that must be stated — but you saw other players slipping and sliding … [Sydney FC defender] Rhyan Grant motioned towards it as well.
"We don't want players at the business end of the season, especially coming up towards the semi-finals, going onto the pitch and just thinking about their safety, because the quality is going to suffer."
ABC/AAP
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