The weekend’s A-League Men’s schedule has been affected by the flow-on effect from historic flooding in the United Arab Emirates. The match between Central Coast Mariners and Adelaide United has been called off as the Mariners were unable to return home in time from Dubai.
Central Coast Mariners
Schedule
ALM — Mariners vs Adelaide United, Sunday April 18 (Postponed)AFC Cup — Mariners vs Abdish-Ata Kant, Wednesday April 24, 7pm AESTALM — Newcastle United vs Mariners, Saturday April 27, 5:15pm AEST
ALM = A-League Men’s
The A-Leagues announced the postponement on Thursday afternoon, three days out from the fixture.
The Mariners played the first leg of their AFC Cup inter-zonal play-off against Kyrgyzstan champions Abdish-Ata Kant on Wednesday night.
The Mariners led 1-0 through Brian Kaltack before Abdish-Ata Kant equalised in the third minute of stoppage time through Magamed Uzdenov.
They were scheduled to fly home through Dubai to face Adelaide in Gosford on Sunday at 4:50pm AEST, before playing the return leg of their AFC Cup tie at the same venue next Wednesday at 7pm AEST.
However, Central Coast players, coaches, and staff are among the many affected by the torrential rain in the United Arab Emirates, causing flight disruptions at Dubai International Airport.
(AP: Jon Gambrell)
In Dubai, operations at the airport, a major travel hub, remain disrupted after Tuesday’s storm flooded the runway, resulting in flight diversions, delays, and cancellations.
The airport said on Thursday morning it had resumed receiving inbound flights at Terminal 1, used by foreign carriers, but that flights continue to be delayed and disrupted.
Emirates, the single largest carrier at the airport, said it would resume checking-in passengers in Dubai at 9am (3pm AEST) on Thursday, delaying the restart from midnight by nine hours.
The A-Leagues announcement confirmed the inability to proceed with Sunday’s match.
“Due to the Central Coast Mariners’ flight cancellations from Dubai Airport en route back from Kyrgyzstan, and re-routing of flights due to the adverse weather conditions in the region, the Round 25 A-League Men fixture scheduled for this Sunday needs to be postponed,” the league’s statement said.
“We will share more information in the coming days on the rescheduled date following further consultation with clubs, FA and based on AFC Cup fixturing.”
ABC/Reuters
