The FA have come under fire after a Women’s Super League clash between Liverpool and defending champions Chelsea was abandoned after six minutes due to a frozen pitch.
Sub-zero temperatures across the UK this week have caused hundreds of games across the country to be called off due to frozen pitches being unsafe to play on.
With some games in the EFL being called off over 24 hours before kick-off, it has caused several people to question why the game was even allowed to start.
Chelsea boss Emma Hayes spoke out in frustration about the situation, even revealing that the pitch was deemed unplayable at 9.30am.
“We’ve got to take our game seriously,” Hayes said to the BBC.
“The game should never have started. It wasn’t playable at 9.30am, so they said to give it until 2pm. You could see from the opening minutes that it was like an ice rink down the sides.”
An official statement from the WSL’s spokesperson, stated that ‘following inspections before the match, the pitch was deemed to be playable by the matchday referee. However, shortly after kick-off, the referee made the decision to abandon the match in order to protect the safety of the players.’
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It has since sparked the debate on whether all WSL pitches should have undersoil heating, as a sign of progress for the women’s game.
