Before the start of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship the four clubs participating signed off on the rules of the competition. Contained within those rules was the following:
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Rule III-12 -- If the match is abandoned before the completion of normal playing time because of extreme weather or for reasons outside of the control of the host team, the match shall be replayed in its entirety the following day, thus avoiding the considerable extra expense or the visiting team. If it is still impossible to play the next day for the same reasons, the game may be postponed by another day, provided both teams agree. If the match can still not be played on the third day, the expense thus incurred by the visiting team shall be split between the teams. A decision to abandon will be taken within two hours of the referee’s decision to abandon the match, in consideration with the two clubs concerned. In case of dispute, he CSA Organizing Committee fixes the date and kick-off time of the match. Its decision is final.
So, the Vancouver Whitecaps would have known what the outcome of an abandoned match would be prior to kick-off last night. It’s likely why they waited so long to conclude the painfully obvious – you could see lightning striking down in Exhibition Place as the Whitecaps coaching staff were walking the pitch trying to convince themselves it was playable.
Aron Winter was candid after the decision was made. “It’s unfair,” he said. However, he added a caveat. “But we’re following the rules we agreed on.”
What would have really been unfair was to try and change the rules last night to reflect someone’s perspective of fairness. It would suck to be a Whitecaps fan today, no doubt, but you can’t go changing things on the fly and stopping the game last night was a safety issue, full stop.
Although it was beginning to look like one of those nights for TFC – they were dominating possession but unable to score – we cannot know how the near 30 minutes left would have played out. Suggesting that Vancouver had the game won is inaccurate, but it is fair to point out that they had the advantage.
There is a lot to be frustrated about for Vancouver by the way the game played out, but there were no conspiracies at play. It was just bad/dumb luck. And now we have a little more than a month to stew on it and to get excited by the possibility of back to back games, three days apart.
Note: Does anyone have a link to a highlight of goal line clearence off Joao Plata. If so, could they send it to me or anyone at CSN.