Abandoning Matches

Matches are abandoned for a number of reasons, the main ones being, floodlight failure/power cut, adverse weather (including fog), serious injury and public/player disorder. Prior to reaching a decision, the Referee must consider the following: 

Power failure

• Discuss with the Home Club to determine the extent of damage or downtime

Adverse weather

• The possibility of an improvement, use of the local forecast/weather centre is advised
• If possible, players should be taken off the field of play until such time a final decision is made as to whether to continue or abandon
• The safety of players and spectators is paramount

Serious Injury or Incident

• The extent and seriousness of the injury/incident
• The feelings of both sets of players and management
• The length of any delay

Public / Player disorder

• The degree of disorder, either crowd or player
• The safety of the players and/or spectators prior to any possible re-start