FFA Heat Policy
Paul Williams
It may be a provocative question, but it needs to be asked - does FFA actually care about player safety? Because if it did then neither of Sunday's W-League or A-League matches in Adelaide would have gone ahead at the scheduled kick off times.
They can hide behind all the Wet Bulb Globe Tests they like - the simple fact is it was unsafe to make players play in those temperatures. And I know, I was one of the 8,313 who braved the conditions to watch from the stands. It was unbearable sitting in the grandstand, I can't imagine what it was like for those players forced to play.
And I say forced because that's what they were.
Wellington Phoenix coach Chris Greenacre revealed after the match that his club had enquired about pushing back the kick off time, a request that was denied. He also revealed they had players being physically ill in the change rooms at half time.
"They're absolutely shattered as you can imagine. Very, very tough conditions for both sets of players,” Greenacre said after the match.
"That was really, really tough conditions. We had a couple of guys at half time being ill through heatstroke. We enquired about the kick off being a little later just to get the best out of the players really.”
It wasn't just the players either. Upon arrival at the ground I saw St John first aid providers treating a young girl with heatstroke while there were also social media reports of other patrons also being treated.
If this is how the fans were feeling just sitting in the sun, imagine the players running around in that heat for 90 minutes.
No player should be made to play in such conditions. And while all the focus seems to be on the A-League, sadly this is a recurring theme for W-League players who are forced to endure the hottest conditions in middle of the afternoon. Not only are they subjected to often second-class facilities, they're made to play in almost inhumane conditions.
Enough is enough.
What is it going to take before the FFA acts? Why in the middle of the Australian summer are we scheduling W-League games for early afternoon kick offs and A-League games for late afternoon kick offs.
Television is the obvious answer, but player safety is far more important than what the executives in their air-conditioned offices in Sydney deem the best for their schedule.
Common sense has to prevail. No Wet Bulb Globe Tests (who even knows how that works?) or some other concoction, just plain common sense. And common sense tells you that if it is 39C with a baking hot sun then it is plainly unsafe for a football match to take place.
This debate has been going on for years now, and the people of Perth have worn the brunt of it more often than not, with FFA scheduling mid-afternoon kick offs to satisfy the requirements of their east coast-based television broadcaster. Complaints from players and coaches are seemingly just cast aside as an annoyance more than anything.
There is some irony too that Australians were some of the loudest complainers about the possibility of playing the FIFA World Cup in Qatar in the head of a Gulf summer - and rightly so, it must be said - but then we turn around and make our players play in oven-like conditions for our own domestic competition.
Up until now the camel's back has held firm, but hopefully this is the straw that breaks the camel's back because the welfare of the players simply has to come first and FFA need to show that is the case.
If, when the schedule is released for next season, we continue to see early and mid-afternoon kick offs then it will be patently clear that FFA cares little for the welfare of its own players.
Copyright © Paul Williams and Soccerphile.com
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