Exhibition Game Football Players Ireland and Colombia Discontinued

This article was last updated on July 14, 2023

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Practice match suspended due to ‘too physical’ gameplay

Ireland and Colombia Prepare for Women’s World Cup

A practice match between the football players of Ireland and Colombia was stopped after twenty minutes on Friday. According to the Football Association of Ireland, it was deemed too physical and therefore unsafe to continue.

The private exhibition game took place at Meakin Park in Brisbane and quickly escalated in terms of physicality, prompting the Irish Football Association (FAI) to intervene and put a halt to the match. In a statement, FAI explained, “After consultation with the match officials, it was decided to end the game. The Irish team then completed a training session to optimally prepare for the upcoming Women’s World Cup.”

The decision to suspend the game was taken following an incident where Denise O’Sullivan, one of Ireland’s key players under national coach Vera Pauw, was tackled aggressively and forcefully to the ground. O’Sullivan sustained an injury and will undergo a shin scan on Saturday. Prior to this incident, there had already been a number of serious fouls throughout the game.

Both Ireland and Colombia are currently in the process of preparing for the upcoming Women’s World Cup, which will be held in Australia and New Zealand and is set to commence on Thursday. The Netherlands, also participating in the global tournament, will have their first match against Portugal on Sunday.