Stanislaus, Bosco refuse to play without physio; angst justified as AVM player gets injured in very next MSSA match
In the absence of MSSA football secretary Sebastian Fernandes, St Stanislaus coach Henry Picardo (centre in jeans) talks to MSSA groundstaff as Don Bosco coach Abbas Ali Rizvi (left, red jersey) looks on, ahead of the MSSA Divison I tie at Azad Maidan yes
In the absence of MSSA football secretary Sebastian Fernandes, St Stanislaus coach Henry Picardo centre in jeans talks to MSSA groundstaff as Don Bosco coach Abbas Ali Rizvi left, red jersey looks on, ahead of the MSSA Divison I tie at Azad Maidan yesterday. Pics/Suresh Karkera
It was quite a dramatic day during the quarter-finals of the Mumbai Schools Sports Association MSSA-organised inter-school boys under-16 Div I tournament at Azad Maidan yesterday.
ADVERTISEMENT
The first quarter-final between St Stanislaus -A- [Bandra] and Don Bosco -A- [Borivli] was delayed by an hour-and-a-half due to the absence of a physio. Both coaches — Henry Picardo [St Stanislaus] and Abbas Ali Rizvi [Don Bosco] refused to allow their teams to play until a physio arrived.
The match was supposed to begin at 11.30 am, but got underway only at 1.15pm after MSSA successfully tried to get a physio on the ground.
AVM-s Raj Jagiasi lies injured on a stretcher even as his team-s match against St Francis D’Assisi is in progress
"When we came, I was informed that there is no physio for the match. When the referees called both coaches, I told them that I will not risk playing the game without a physio. I feel that prevention is better than cure," said St Stanislaus coach Picardo.
Don Bosco coach Rizvi added: "As there was no physio, we [coaches] took a joint decision not to go ahead with the game. After all, as a coach, I am responsible for the kids."
MSSA secretary Sebastian Fernandes said: "We always have a physio in place, but today it was unfortunate that she did not turn up. We then called Dr Vinayata Patel, who came for the first game."
Riding on goals from Joshua D-Souza, Calvin D-Silva and Vitallian Naidu, St Stanislaus -A- registered a 3-0 win over Don Bosco -A- Borivli.
The injury
Later during the day, during another quarter-final match between AVM [Juhu] and St Francis D-Assisi -A- [Borivli], AVM-s Raj Jagiasi injured his shinbone after colliding with Harsh Dhekale from the opposition team.
Lucky to avoid surgery
The physio, Dr Priya Wani, present during the tie, attended to Raj, who was carried away on a stretcher. AVM coach Desmond D-Souza took him to the nearby Bombay Hospital and an X-ray was taken which showed a fracture.
"According to per the X-ray, more that 80 per cent of Raj-s shin bone is out. If the entire bone was dislocated, the doctor would have had to operate on him," D-Souza told mid-day yesterday.
St Francis D-Assisi [Borivli] beat AVM [Juhu] 3-2 via penalty shootout. In another quarter-final match, Don Bosco -A- Matunga defeated St Mary SSC Mazagaon 2-0.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
