NEW YORK – NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman described the decision to abandon Sunday’s match between the Seattle Reign and Racing Louisville as a “no-brainer” after Louisville’s Savannah DeMelo experienced a medical emergency, showcasing a change in league strategy as a medical event halted a match for the second time this season.
DeMelo is stable and alert after collapsing on the field at the end of the first half, and as of Monday was undergoing testing at a Seattle-area hospital to determine the cause of the incident. Berman said she received a call on Sunday during the match concerning DeMelo and made the decision to abandon the match, which eventually resumed on Tuesday from the second half.
“In any game, our operations and medical team are overseeing and on standby for any and all communications that are required,” Berman stated during a press conference on Thursday. “Sometimes that relates to a medical situation and it is really me. I am the one who makes that decision and in that particular situation, I got the phone call that Savannah had a medical emergency and needed treatment and that everyone who was there was pretty rattled and immediately directed the team to abandon the game.”
The NWSL made a different decision than it did in May, when Angel City’s Savy King experienced a medical event in a match against the Utah Royals and later underwent successful heart surgery. That match resumed after King’s collapse, and the league faced criticism from the teams involved as well as the NWSL Players Association, eventually leading to a policy change days later. Berman said Sunday’s event in Seattle, though far from ideal, allowed the league to demonstrate its growth.
“First, let me just say that we’re so thankful that both of those players are okay and that although, it presented some challenges for us in the operations and from a business perspective,” Berman remarked. “No one wants to have experience practicing these policies but having had the opportunity to play it out earlier this year, assess and learn the things that we could do better…”
