ABU DHABI // Abu Dhabi Saracens fear they will be fined by Asian Rugby after their Western Clubs Champions League fixture with Kandy was abandoned on Tuesday night on medical grounds.
With the players, officials and a sizable crowd ready for kick off at 7.30pm at Al Ghazal, the start was delayed as an ambulance was not present on site.
After 45 minutes of discussions between Asian Rugby and club officials, as well as a series of phone calls to the ambulance service, it was decided to abandon the match.
“In any Asian Rugby or World Rugby event, we need to have an ambulance present before the match kicks off,” said Ghaith Jalajel, the Asian Rugby representative at the ground.
“If there is no ambulance there, we can’t start the game. It may just be 10 minutes away because of an injury, but in case of a catastrophic injury where a player needs immediate attention, we cannot risk that. That is why we decided to call off the game tonight.”
The home club said they had ordered the ambulance, as was mandated in tournament’s playing conditions, and could not reason out why it had not arrived.
Craig Nutt, the player-coach of Saracens, said his team were highly frustrated the match could not go ahead, given the variety of paid medical staff that were in attendance anyway.
“We have a player who works in helicopter rescue, who was in Yemen last week, yet he wasn’t relied upon to stabilise people on the field,” Nutt said.
“I understand it was in the specifics of the contract. We have organised it but it hasn’t turned up. Our chairman is away on holiday, we don’t understand why it has not come.
“We tried everyone we could, but all the hospitals were saying there would be a two-hour wait. There is nothing else we could do.”
With the final round of matches in the four-team, week-long tournament due to be played on Friday, Nutt ruled out the possibility of rearranging the game.
He said he expected his side would have to forfeit the points, as well as incur a fine from the organisers.
“We have spent a lot of money coming all this way,” said Nazeer Jamaldeen, the Kandy team manager.
“We had concerns that if a serious injury happened, there could be a problem. We contacted our chairman in Sri Lanka, he also said it would be a risk to play.”
If, as is expected, Kandy are handed all the points from the abandoned game, they can win the first Champions League title if they beat Doha on Friday.
The side from Qatar have won two out of two so far, after they thrashed Olymp, a side from Kazakhstan, 59-12 last night.
pradley@thenational.ae
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