Furious at cancellation

By Stuart Teather
STATE League soccer kicked off on the weekend, but Comets Stadium was empty after the much-anticipated season-opener between the Casey Comets and Heatherton United was cancelled.
The match was put off after Casey Council ruled that the ground was unfit to play on because of the drought.
The council informed Football Federation Victoria (FFV) of its decision back on 4 March, which it explained in a statement to The News.
“Due to the continuing impacts of the drought on sports grounds in Casey … access to Casey sporting grounds was not permitted until after the commencement of the winter season on 1 April.
“The decision to restrict access to the sporting grounds was to ensure they remain in a playable condition for the winter season.”
But the explanation did not add up, with the Comets’ ground in pristine condition, according to Heatherton United coach Michael Kupinic.
“The week before the Casey Comets played against Fawkner, I’ve spoken to people at Fawkner who reckon the ground was in beautiful condition – I don’t know what’s going on … there is a mystery here,” he said.
The confusion arose because the Comets use a recycled water system on their ground, meaning it, unlike the other grounds, was fit to play on.
When the club found out on Friday that the game was cancelled, it informed the council, which in turn contacted the FFV to change its decision.
But competitions manager Mariela Pena said by that time it was too late.
“What then happened was the council called 3.30pm or 4pm (Friday) to say that we could use the ground, but by then it was too late because we’d already sent notice out to our stakeholders that the game was cancelled,” Pena said.
“We can’t wait until 5pm on a Friday because we’ve got referees involved, administrators involved and another club involved.”
The Comets are furious over the decision, but club president Charlie Branca said the club would not make a statement until it had completed its own investigation.