A fresh restart of the Vodafone Fiji FACT tournament semifinal clash between Nadi and Rewa this weekend, is the only way to go.

There are no two ways about it.

When contacted yesterday, Fiji Football Association chief executive officer Mohammed Yusuf said, they are going to announce the decision today.

Defending FACT champions Nadi were leading Rewa 1-0 in the first half when the semifinal match was called off last Saturday because of poor ground conditions.

Immediately after that Yusuf announced that the second half of the match was to be played on Sunday. This did not eventuate as the ground conditions was at its worst.

Such a situation is nothing new.

If we look back, a very much similar incident occurred at the 1992 Interdistrict Championship (IDC) at the then National Stadium in Suva.

The pool match between Labasa and Lautoka was abandoned in the second half due to a power blackout. Labasa were leading 4-0 at that stage.

However, the then Fiji FA officials after consultation with the relevant authorities ordered for a re-start and the match was to be played the full 90 minutes.

It took place the very next morning where Labasa won 2-0.

Rewa Football Association president, Nazeel Buksh has confirmed writing to Fiji FA expressing their views of a fresh re-start.

He even stated that there is no FIFA or Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) rule for an abandoned match to be played from where it last ended.

Even the Nadi camp are bracing themselves for whatever decision is made.

Nadi FA president Ashwant Singh rightfully said, victory was coming their way when the match was called off.

It was none of the teams’ fault and Fiji FA as well.

Even Nadi captain Sakaraia Naisua told one of our reporters that they’ll respect whatever decision Fiji FA makes today.

Don’t Count Suva Out
On the same note, Yusuf has also indicated that they have booked Subrail Park for this weekend.

But again everything will be confirmed and announced today.

We understand the situation, as Fiji FA is thinking about football fans in the North who have already purchased their tickets.

However, there have other considerations like the travelling, accommodation and meals expenses of Nadi, Rewa and Suva especially when they’ll heading back to the North.

Sources have indicated that an ideal option was to bring Labasa over and for the matches to be played at the ANZ Stadium, Suva.

And more fitting for Fiji FA technical officials since the 2020 Vodafone Futsal IDC is also played at the FMF Gym (which is next to the ANZ Stadium), this weekend.

This is deemed as a win-win situation for all parties.

But again we’ll have to wait and see what today’s announcement will be.

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