Someone asked what would happen if that Christian Eriksen ordeal was to be witnessed in our local (Kenyan) leagues – where even stakeholders in the top and lower-tier leagues and competitions pretend to care yet they don’t.
The question reminded me of that famous SoNY Sugar Vs AFC Leopards game in Awendo Stadium on April 14 (2019); The game never kicked off after heavens opened that afternoon, rendering the pitch unplayable.
A decision was then reached and communicated to both sides to have the game replayed the next day at the same venue.
Nothing would, however, happen as planned; AFC Leopards refused to take to the pitch after the usual pre-match inspections established that the ambulance availed by their hosts (in Awendo), did not have the most important equipment to warrant the start of any modern game of soccer, a defibrillator, medical device often used to resuscitate such players as Christian Eriksen.
Instead of awarding them (AFC Leopards) the points to avert the same in the future, AFC Leopards were forced by the then league organizers (KPL) to replay the game on a later date, this was despite the oversight being their hosts’. The local fans on the other hand made fun of Leopards for months over the incident, the seriousness of the matter notwithstanding.
One of the arguments the then Kenyan Premier League (KPL) Independent Disciplinary and Complaints Committee (IDCC) relied on to compel Leopards to regroup for that replay was the fact that SoNY argued; that while there was no defibrillator in the designated match-day ambulance, there was a well-equipped health facility run by the sugar millers close by.
The above left many of us wondering if reliance on such opinions would have saved the likes of Fabrice Muamba, and if at all the word “First Aid” and its practice had changed its meaning or lost its importance in the medical field and sports in general.
Anyway, I just thought of peeling our mask, just to show how much we have “toyed” with health issues over the years, and the fact that even the current COVID-19 crisis’ below-par handling shouldn’t surprise you, especially should it have many ‘supporters’.
We have a rich history of courting disasters!
