Chance of a reprieve for Port

Chance of a reprieve for Port

A firetruck arrives at Thai League 1 side Port FC's PAT Stadium during Sunday's blackout. (Photo by Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
A firetruck arrives at Thai League 1 side Port FC's PAT Stadium during Sunday's blackout. (Photo by Arnun Chonmahatrakool)

Thai League 1 side Port FC could escape unpunished after their home game against SCG Muang Thong United was called off due to a power outage on Sunday.

Port said the blackout at PAT Stadium was caused by a power transformer which blew up 30 minutes before the scheduled 6pm start of the match.

It was initially believed that Port risked a 2-0 forfeit for the incident.

The Football Association of Thailand rules stipulate that an FAT member who fails to properly prepare the competition venue for a scheduled date for any reason will be punished with a defeat.

However, this contradicts one of the Thai league regulations.

It states that a match should be postponed to a later date in a force majeure event which takes place before a match and no involved parties are to blame for it, such as a floodlight failure caused by lightning or a water-logged pitch caused by a heavy downpour.

Port will learn their fate during a meeting conducted by the FAT disciplinary committee tomorrow.

Last month, Port were slapped with a 2-0 loss to Police Tero for a power outage during a league match at their PAT Stadium.

The match was tied 1-1 with a few minutes left when the incident took place.

After the seventh round of matches, FA Cup winners Port are eighth in the table with 13 points, three ahead of Muang Thong United.

BG Pathum United lead with 19 points, four more than second-ranked True Bangkok United's tally.

Meanwhile, Thailand coach Akira Nishino has called up midfielder Kasidech Wettayawong to replace Chotiphat Poomkaew who was forced to pull out from the national side due to an injury.

There are no matches in the near future and the players will instead join a training camp from tomorrow to Sunday at Bangkok's Windmill Football Club.

The team will play a warm-up game with Thai League 2 club Nakhon Pathom FC on Saturday.

There are no players from Buriram United, BG Pathum United, True Bangkok United and Ratchaburi Mitr Phol because the four teams have to play their rescheduled league matches on Saturday.

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