The playing surface at the SCG has been slammed as "dangerous" and "unsafe" by Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat after a player looked to have suffered a serious knee injury as a result of inconsistencies of the pitch.
Melbourne midfielder Terry Antonis was forced off the field in agony after tripping on the raised edge of the cricket pitch in the middle of the field during Victory's 2-1 defeat to Sydney FC on Saturday night that has sparked fury over player welfare as a result of the field.
Terry Antonis of the Victory receives attention from medical staff. Credit:Monkey
The standard of playing surfaces has long been a point of frustration in Australian football but on Saturday night it may have directly attributed to a potential long-term injury of a player after Antonis was writhing in pain, falling with no player remotely close to him.
Speaking after the match, Muscat repeatedly said the state of the playing surface was not an excuse for Saturday night's result but says Australian football can no longer accept poor pitches if it wants to be taken seriously.
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“To ask players to come to work and work under those conditions is unacceptable,” He said. “There might be a serious injury as a result from it. For players to go out on to that – whatever its called – is a disgrace. If we accept it ourselves as a code, it is part of the reason why everybody else treats us with contempt. All the other codes and everybody else treats us with contempt because we accept that ourselves. Instead of looking outside, lets look at ourselves."
It's understood the players' union, The PFA, is set to investigate the incident and the safety concerns around the SCG pitch which Muscat says was not fit for a professional game.
"That surface was not conducive to a ball rolling on it. First and foremost it was dangerous," Muscat said. "For the players to perform the way they did and give everybody the excitement and entertainment that they did was remarkable."
Despite the win and the impressive display, Sydney FC coach Steve Corica echoed Muscat's frustration, condemning theRead More – Source
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