BOURNEMOUTH’s clash with Luton Town was abandoned following Tom Lockyer’s terrifying collapse.
The defender suffered a cardiac arrest on the pitch during the Premier League fixture.
The Hatters have confirmed that Lockyer is conscious and responsive, having been rushed to hospital.
Referee Simon Hooper abandoned the match after the Welshman was stretchered off.
The game was all tied up at 1-1 when the emergency happened.
Luton Town star Elijah Adebayo stunned fans when he broke the deadlock within the opening three minutes but Dominic Solanke netted the equaliser for the hosts after half-time.
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However, it is not yet known if the Premier League fixture will be replayed from scratch or restarted from when the match was paused.
The FA rules suggest that the match could be replayed “in its entirety” which would suggest starting again from 0-0.
The rules state: “An abandoned match is replayed unless the competition rules or organisers determine otherwise.
“In the event of a competition match not being played or abandoned owing to causes over which neither club has control, it should be played in its entirety on a date to be mutually agreed by the two clubs and approved by the competition.
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“Failing such agreement and notification to the competition within [x] days the competition shall have the power to order the match to be played on or before a given date.”
But the Premier League rule L.39 states: “The Board may order a League Match which for whatever reason lasts for less than 90 minutes to count as a completed fixture or to be replayed either partially or in its entirety.”
This means that the game’s result could be ordered to be completed with the scores at the time of Lockyer’s incident.
This would see Bournemouth and Luton collect a point each, with the game ending as a draw.
WHAT PRECEDENT IS THERE?
Numerous Premier League matches have been abandoned, the most recent in 2006 when Watford vs Wigan was called off on 59 minutes due to a waterlogged pitch.
The match was 1-1 at the time, and restarted at 0-0 before ending 1-1.
The same year, Fulham’s game with Sunderland was called off due to heavy snow in the 21st minute.
The Cottagers were leading 1-0 at the time, but when the match was replayed from scratch, they ending up losing 2-1.
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Aside from extreme weather, the only other reason for abandoning Premier League matches has been floodlight failures.
In all cases, matches were played at an alternative date from scratch.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
