Melbourne Victory coach Kevin Muscat has attacked A-League decision-makers for giving an “unsafe” SCG surface the green light last Saturday.
The defending champions will be sweating on scans on Terry Antonis after the key attacker collapsed on the turf untouched in their Big Blue loss to Sydney FC.
Muscat was unable to confirm whether the injury came a result of the pitch, however replays showed his leg appeared to give way on the edge of the square.
Muscat refused to use the conditions as an excuse for his side’s 2-1 defeat, and lauded both teams for putting on what was at times a quality contest. But that didn’t stop him from launching a scathing tirade on the game’s administrators for allowing the match to go ahead.
“If nothing gets said, we’re just accepting it as a code,” Muscat said. “The result is one thing tonight. But to ask players to come and work under those conditions is unacceptable.
“It might be a serious injury as a result from it. And for players to go out onto that, whatever it’s called, is a disgrace.
“It’s part of the reason everyone else treats us with contempt. All the other codes treat us with contempt because we accept it ourselves.”
It is the second time in a month the ground has come under fire, having also been forced into emergency work ahead of a round-one NRL fixture in early March. It came just days after a NSW Waratahs rugby union game tore up the ground, resulting in 3000 square metres of turf being relaid.
The A-League furore is the latest in a string of controversies across Sydney’s sporting codes as Allianz Stadium undergoes a reconstruction.
It has forced regular SCG tenants Sydney Swans to share the venue with Sydney FC, Sydney Roosters, and the Waratahs in a jam-packed schedule. Muscat said the track wasn’t even conducive to a ball rolling, and is concerned the game would simply sweep the issue under a rug.
