A women’s championship match between Kirkop United and Mosta at the Dingli Ground on Tuesday was called off after 60 minutes after a player required hospital treatment following a heavy fall.
Lara Theuma, who plays for Kirkop, was engaged in an aerial duel with an opponent before falling head first on the ground.
She lost consciousness temporarily but received immediate treatment from the Malta FA physio on duty who called for ambulance assistance.
The match was halted for several minutes with most of the players, particularly Theuma’s team-mates, showing signs of emotion and stunned by what had happened.
The match official, Slobodan Petrovic, had intended to resume the encounter but with the ambulance reaching the Dingli Ground some 30 minutes later, the referee, in agreement with the two coaches, decided to call off the game.
Theuma was discharged from hospital after spending the night under observation.
Scans have shown that she had suffered a head and neck injury but no evidence of any spinal damage.
A statement from the club read: “We would like to wish a speedy recovery to our player Lara Theuma following a head injury during Tuesday’s match. Get well soon Lara!”
Marco Theuma, Lara’s father, was among the first who tried to assist the physio who did an excellent job, along with with his wife who have first-aid knowledge.
Players from both teams showed concern and offered any assistance they could as well.
He said the incident was nothing more than a common football accident. However, there could have been serious repercussions.
“The physio was tending to the player on the field but without the help of more personnel and proper equipment, there was very little more he could have done,” he said.
“The ambulance took 30 minutes to reach the venue and to make things worse the entrance to the stadium was blocked by heavy machinery.
“After lying on a wet pitch for that long, Lara was immobilised on a stretcher to the ambulance - the medical team did their best to avoid unnecessary bumps but the fact that they had to wheel out the stretcher on the turf and through the bar made their job much harder."
“Indeed, this is not about having an ambulance available at each game being played,” he added.
“This is about having qualified people on standby in centralised zones who can reach injured players in the least possible time, assisting the physio and providing more equipment to avoid mishaps like this.”
Mr Theuma said that in normal circumstances Lara could have been afforded adequate treatment and the referee going on to resume the match.
“However, in this case, given the lengthy delay of the ambulance, this was not possible,” he said.
“These kinds of awkward situations should be avoided. During the week, it’s not only women’s football as several other fixtures from the men’s youth league are played across the country.”
MFA action
Tuesday’s incident comes only a few weeks after Yau Mun Law had collapsed on the field and was rescued by the Malta FA paramedic on duty who used an automated external defibrillator (AED) to treat the Sta Venera Lightnings player before being hospitalised.
The incident, at the Centenary Stadium, had sparked calls for rules to be changed to ensure an ambulance is present for lower league matches, with one of Mun Law’s team-mates saying it took 30 minutes for paramedics to reach the scene.
In the aftermath of this, Malta FA president Bjorn Vassallo had confirmed that two ambulances will be kept on stand-by in strategic locations across the country during lower league matches in case of an emergency.
Read: Footballers promised ambulances on standby following player's collapse.
This was also welcomed by the Malta Football Players Association (MFPA) who has been calling for more ambulance presence during matches.