Sports administrators warn of ‘worst case’ scenarios including cancelled fixtures with no refunds

Grassroots sport in SEQ is facing a long road back to parity with tens of thousands of players left high and dry by wet weather fixture postponements. WHY REFUNDS ARE UNLIKELY.

Football Queensland has upwards of 2500 fixtures to reschedule as a result of wet weather postponements across the state according to FQ South Coast chairman Damien Bresic.

And Bresic says the Gold Coast alone accounts for “at least 800” of those as a sustained period of wet weather continues to wreak havoc on local football from the NPL Queensland down.

The FQPL3 South Coast was completely rained out for a second round running at the weekend adding to a fixture backlog that extends to the beginning of the season.

Bresic conceded midweek matches may soon become a permanent fixture on the football calendar as Football Queensland attempts to play catch-up.

“Then we have to go back to duty of care,” Bresic cautioned.

“After not playing for 3-4 weeks, then having to play 10 games in five days … a lot of things need to be considered.”

Gold Coast United and Gold Coast Knights have not played any fixtures since the Gold Coast NPL Queensland derby in the first week of May. Picture: Craig Clifford

After two seasons impacted by Covid-19 FQ South Coast welcomed an influx of new registrations for the 2022 season.

More than 9000 players registered this year, the best numbers since 2016-17, and Bresic lamented the toll these postponements was having.

“I totally understand the frustration from parents, players and volunteers. Everyone wants to play,” he said.

“We don’t have a lot of space to play catch-up games because we already have venues taken up (through the week).

“It’s a juggling act but we have the technology. All we ask for is some patience and understanding from our clubs.”

Bresic said the most likely scenario would be to extend the season into October and November, as was required last year following Covid-enforced delays.

“Worst case scenario for us would be that we simply call some games as no results,” he added. “Cancelling games isn’t ideal and something we want to avoid … but that is the absolute last resort for us.”

If matches are ultimately abandoned, Bresic said it was unlikely players received any refunds to registration fees.

“It will be hard to refund money. A lot of it is used to fund the game (and) our expenditure continues even when games aren’t being played.”

Even the QAFL has had to postpone a number of senior fixtures in the past fortnight with councils choosing to close grounds in an effort to protect against long term damage. Picture: Mike Batterham

Football is not the only sport to be severely impacted by recent wet weather.

An AFL Queensland spokesman put conservative estimates at close to 1100 postponed fixtures in just the past two weeks across southeast Queensland.

Approximately 750 junior matches, 250 youth and almost 100 senior fixtures have been delayed.

On the Gold Coast, many of these delays come as a result of Gold Coast City Council choosing to close fields from use in an effort to protect them from long-term damage.

Only one game, Labrador versus Maroochydore, went ahead on the Gold Coast at the weekend.

Meanwhile Gold Coast District Rugby Union’s Brooklyn Manu revealed more than 150 junior and senior fixtures had been cancelled in the past fortnight, totalling “98 per cent” of the rugby calendar.

“We’ve had to abandon two rounds, it’s been devastating,” Manu said.

“We’ve inspected five grounds in the past 48 hours and you just can’t train or play on them. And it’s not just us – the GPS schools are struggling as well. Everyone is having the same problem.

“Someone told me this is the worst season (for cancellations) on record. If you factor in the floods in February and this, it’s just not fun for anyone. The kids just want to play.”

Continued rain forecast for the remainder of the week has put sports fixtures this weekend under a further cloud.