Union demands more vigilance over pitches after SCG debacle

The players’ union has stepped in to demand more vigilance over the quality of pitches used for A-League matches.

Melbourne Victory’s Terry Antonis receives treatment after going down with an injury against Sydney FC at the SCG. Picture: Getty Images

The players’ union has moved to place a ban on future A-League matches being played in stadiums “compromised by cricket pitches” following Saturday night’s Big Blue between Sydney FC and Melbourne Victory at the Sydney Cricket Ground that left Victory coach Kevin Muscat seething.

Professional Footballers Australia has also called on Football Federation Australia to launch an investigation into why the game was allowed to go ahead despite concerns over the state of the SCG surface, which has come under pressure because of a heavy schedule involving rugby league, rugby union, AFL and A-League games.

The fallout from the controversy will have a huge knock-on effect. It is near certain the Sydney FC v Perth Glory game, which could decide the Premiers Plate, scheduled for the SCG on April 18, will be moved to Jubilee Oval. It is now also highly unlikely Sydney will host their semi-final at the SCG, with that game expected to be moved to Jubilee depending on the opponents.

If Sydney FC host the grand final, A-League boss Greg O’Rourke told The Australian yesterday that the preference would be to play it at ANZ Stadium.

O’Rourke said he had spoken to Sydney FC chief executive Danny Townsend and Victory CEO Trent Jacobs yesterday morning and confirmed he and Townsend will meet with the SCG Trust today to discuss the situation and “whether it is suitable or not for any A-League games to be played at the venue for the balance of the year”.

The state of the SCG playing surface came into question after a rugby match involving the NSW Waratahs caused significant damage that forced emergency repairs ahead of an opening round NRL match last month. A large part of the football pitch was subsequently returfed.

There have been fears of players suffering serious injuries and it came to fruition on Saturday night when Victory midfielder Terry Antonis had to be carried off after appearing to get his leg caught in an area just on the edge of the cricket pitch. There were suggestions yesterday that the injury is not as bad as first thought.

The SCG Trust issued a statement declaring the pitch “had been inspected by independent experts in the past two weeks with satisfactory results recorded for all codes”.

It said the Antonis incident had taken place two metres off the cricket pitch on mature turf that had been replaced in February.

Muscat, though, did not hold back in his after-match press conference, labelling the conditions “a disgrace”.

“To ask the players to work under those conditions is unacceptable. For players to go out onto that, whatever it’s called, is a disgrace,” Muscat said following the 2-1 loss to the Sky Blues.

PFA chief executive John Didulica described the state of the SCG pitch as “deplorable” and demanded clarity from FFA.

“The players confirmed with us last night (Saturday) that they were not consulted at any stage,” Didulica said in a statement.

“Accordingly, the PFA will convene a meeting with its A-League delegates this week and recommend two clear resolutions for adoption.

“Firstly, that FFA immediately commission an independent investigation into the process undertaken to approve last night’s match as being fit for play.

“Secondly, we will endorse a motion that players will no longer play on surfaces unacceptably compromised by a cricket wicket.’’

O’Rourke said the processes surrounding the suitability of playing surfaces “had worked, up until last night”.

“In hindsight, even though it was felt the pitch would be in a condition of A-League standard, it wasn’t,” he said.

O’Rourke said a decision on whether the pitch was suitable to play on was left to Sydney FC and that there was no reason for the FFA to do its own inspection.

“I am not trying to flick pass on the situation, but we rely on clubs to do inspections then contact us,’’ he said.

“Sydney have shown this season that they have been very professional in that regard with issues surrounding Brookvale Oval and Leichhardt Oval.”

Townsend told The Australian that “the pitch clearly wasn’t up to standard” and that the club is working with the SCG Trust and FFA.

“We knew going into the game it wasn’t optimal but, according to everyone in and around the game, it was adequate,” he said. “Talking to our players afterwards, they said it didn’t look great but it played fine.

“The biggest issue with it, and Kevin Muscat was right, is that there are three different type of surfaces. T he mistake the Trust made was not resurfacing the entire field.”