How many medical incidents for players and spectators will it take for football officials to investigate the root cause of the issue?
Last weekend, an unprecedented four English Football League contests were halted due to medical incidents in the stands.
On Saturday, another two English football matches had to pause due to medical emergencies suffered by a spectator in the crowd.
The failure to show any concern about these incidents in football matches and the failure to investigate what is clearly a public health issue has undermined faith in public health even further.https://t.co/GJjY28C24y
— Dr Clare Craig (@ClareCraigPath) February 5, 2022
🚨 Hope The fan will be ok 💔
⛔ Crystal Palace vs Hartlepool FA Cup match stopped due to medical emergency in standshttps://t.co/x6J1fcRU0I pic.twitter.com/anCMjWHeI4
— Gerard Delaney (@Gerard39delaney) February 5, 2022
https://twitter.com/BBlues60/status/1490081659684806656
football.london writes:
Crystal Palace's FA Cup game against Hartlepool has been paused midway through the second half as medical staff dealt with a medical emergency within the away crowd.
Palace were 2-0 up against their League Two rivals thanks to first-half goals from Marc Guehi and Michael Olise.
The second half had been going for less than ten minutes when officials were called over to an issue going on in amongst the Hartlepool away section, with medical staff rushed across the pitch to assess the situation.
Both sets of players came off the pitch for a short while as they awaited further instruction, with referee Peter Bankes pausing play before eventually resuming once the issue was resolved.
53: The game has been paused due to a medical incident in the Hartlepool end.
🦅 2-0 ⚪️#CPFC | #EmiratesFACup
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) February 5, 2022
60: The game is back underway.
Love to the medical staff of both clubs ❤️💙
🦅 2-0 ⚪️#CPFC | #EmiratesFACup
— Crystal Palace F.C. (@CPFC) February 5, 2022
The Daily Mail noted:
Meanwhile, Oxford United's League One clash against Portsmouth has also been delayed in the second half due to a medical incident at the Kassam Stadium.
'The second half of the game will be delayed here due to a medical incident,' wrote Oxford's official Twitter account.
Portsmouth's official Twitter account added: 'It has been announced over the PA system that the start of the second half will be delayed due to an incident.'
Play resumed at 4:25pm, around 25 minutes later than planned.
At half time during today’s game against @Pompey there was a situation that required medical attention in the tunnel area.
We thank the medical services for their swift response and fans of both teams for their patience while the second half was delayed.
— Oxford United FC (@OUFCOfficial) February 5, 2022
⚠️ It has been announced over the PA system that the start of the second half will be delayed due to an incident#Pompey
— Portsmouth FC (@Pompey) February 5, 2022
While medical emergencies have occurred at sporting events in prior years, the rate at which they're happening is off the charts.
Despite what public health officials want to tell us, what's happening right now is NOT normal.
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