American soccer dealt with two high-profile instances of extreme weather disrupting professional games last week. In both cases, despite conditions that made it impossible to play anything close to normal, the games went on.
The latest of the two occurred on Wednesday, when steady, heavy rain flooded the field at Snapdragon Stadium in San Diego, Caif. before the US women’s national team’s Gold Cup semifinal match against Canada. The conditions meant that the ball could not travel on the ground farther than a couple of feet in most parts of the field, which played a direct role in the United States’ opening goal.
JAEDYN SHAW RIDING THE STORMMMMM 🔥🤩 pic.twitter.com/0gq2tkR2sa
— Attacking Third (@AttackingThird) March 7, 2024
“It’s really crazy,” Shaw said. “We had a really good warmup … the ball was moving really fast, and we were excited to just play and have an intense game, and then we came back and we were like, ‘What’s going on?'”
When asked if the game should be played, USWNT interim head coach Twila Kilgore said, “Probably not.”
Last Saturday, an MLS match between Real Salt Lake and Los Angeles FC was both affected, but in a different form by rain. That game, held at America First Field in Sandy, Utah, was delayed first by high winds and again after kickoff by lightning. Once the game began in earnest, snow began to fall, resulting in the accumulation of up to four inches and whiteout conditions at the end of Salt Lake’s 3-0 win.
“It’s one of the worst professional sporting events I’ve ever seen in my life,” LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo said after the match, comments for which he was fined $10,000 by the league this week for violating the public policy. criticism of the league. “I feel terrible for the players we put them in. The game could and should have been called (off). In my opinion, it’s an absolute shame that we have to play today.
Why are these games allowed to be played?
In North America, soccer games are usually canceled or delayed only when there is lightning within a certain radius of the field or any other type of weather that affects the structural integrity of the stadium. While baseball and tennis (which saw recent competition postponed due to rain) are on the more delicate end of cancellations, soccer generally tends to play in inclement weather as does American football.
There are many examples of professional and international soccer games being played in adverse conditions, with perhaps the most notable example being the US men’s national team’s World Cup qualifier against Costa Rica in Commerce City, Colo., just outside of Denver (called “SnowClásico” by many US fans). In the 2022 World Cup qualifying cycle, the US hosted Honduras in St. Paul in February, with the temperature at kickoff hovering around 2 degrees Fahrenheit (-16 Celsius). That game, too, was played according to plan.
Herculez Gomez surrenders the ‘SnowClásico’ in 2013 (Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)
The fact that Saturday’s game was still being played came as a surprise to new RSL signing Matty Crooks, who has spent his entire professional career in the United Kingdom.
“Back in England, I’d probably say after about 10 minutes it would have been overturned,” Crooks said. “But to be fair, there was no mention in the changing room that it was kicked out, so it was like, ‘Okay, let’s play it.'”
USWNT forward Alex Morgan pointed out how Wednesday’s conditions turned a game largely played on the ground into something else.
“It’s just hard to call it a soccer game tonight, especially the first half,” he told the media afterward. “Your instincts are to dribble, then you can’t dribble, you lose the ball. Your instincts are not to go for it for long when you have shorter options but we saw from the goal that Jae scored … that it’s anybody’s game and to put those instincts aside and really grind out this win.”
Alex Morgan tackled by a Canadian defender (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
What are the rules for W Gold Cup matches? Is that different from the NWSL?
Many professional games around the world are usually overseen by one person whose job it is to make sure that all the logistical things necessary to play are in place. This includes but is not limited to ensuring the on time arrival of both the team and the officiating crew, inspecting the field of play, ensuring that security arrangements are met, and acting as a representative of the organizers on the ground. In CONCACAF, that person is called the match commissioner and is usually stationed on the sideline between the benches.
The CONCACAF rules for the W Gold Cup state that the decision whether or not to play a game in the event of inclement weather rests with the match referee (except in cases of lightning), but in practice it is the commissioner of against the final one. say.
“Technically and practically legally, it’s always up to the referee’s ultimate decision to make that decision,” professional referee and CBS rules analyst Christina Unkel said during the halftime broadcast. “That said, practically speaking, there is a match commissioner in each of these CONCACAF matches. As we saw in the first minutes of this game, the referee went and showed that the ball was not really rolling when he went he near the fourth official station, where the match commissioner was standing. It was very clear from his demonstrative appearance that he did not think it was a safe condition, but was told to continue this match by the match commissioner who that.
CONCACAF did not respond to questions from The Athletic about the decision-making process that led to Wednesday’s play.
In the NWSL, time delay decisions are made by a time delay committee, according to the league 2023 rules and regulations. The committee consists of the referee, representatives from each team (usually the head coaches), and stadium staff.
The 2012 Eastern Conference semifinal at Red Bull Arena was postponed due to Superstorm Sandy, and later played in a Nor’easter (Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
What are the rules for MLS matches?
According to MLS Policy“Matches may be delayed or postponed when there are circumstances that the start or continuation of the game would pose a threat to the safety and welfare of the participants or spectators.”
“The determination of whether a match is considered ‘delayed’ or ‘postponed’ will be made by the League Office in its sole and absolute discretion,” the policy states. The league typically makes that determination with input from meteorologists, venue staff and both competing teams.
MLS says it considers safety for players, officials, staff and fans first, followed by competition-related factors such as the playability of the field. The league also considers logistical factors, such as venue availability and match officials if the game is played the next day. Broadcast implications and other commercial aspects are considered after the aforementioned factors.
When rain flooded the Los Angeles area in February at the start of the MLS season, the league rescheduled the highly touted El Trafico between the LA Galaxy and LAFC due to “safety considerations resulting from adverse weather” – factors that included flooded parking lots around the stadium. The game was rescheduled to take place a few months later, on July 4. LA recorded the fourth highest average rainfall total (6 inches). This February, LA saw 12.6 inches of rain — one inch less than the 1988 record.
What was the reaction?
After the game Real Salt Lake vs. LAFC, LAFC defender Ryan Hollingshead said the MLS Players’ Association will be notified of the players’ complaints.
“My lower back is killing me,” he said.. “It’s like running on an ice rink. You slip and slip the whole time. The whole point is to not fall and hurt yourself. This will be completely taken into account by the players. I know our representative will talk about that right away.”
Reached Thursday, an MLSPA spokeswoman said The Athletic: “We are constantly discussing things that need to be done better with the players and the league. At this time, we have no further statement.”
Reaction on social media to the playing conditions was generally negative. Former USWNT player Julie Foudy posted, “This is crazy. Stop the fight.” San Diego Wave head coach Casey Stoney, whose NWSL team plays at Snapdragon Stadium, is concerned for the players on the field — including many representatives from the Wave — writing“Too dangerous!! Make the right call for player safety!”
“Why are the players put in this situation? There is no way these are safe playing conditions,” former USWNT player Sam Mewis posted.
(Top images: Getty Images)
