16 February,2012 09:46 AM IST | | Sundari Iyer
St Andrew's Nilesh Madne injured his little finger and had to be rushed to the nearby Holy Family hospital in Bandra during the third place tie against Childrens Academy (Malad) because there was no doctor at the St Stanislaus ground yesterday.
Injured Nilesh Madne receives treatment at St Stanislaus ground before
being rushed to hospital. Pic/Pradeeep Dhivar
This is not the first time that a doctor has been absent. If not for a St Stanislaus player's parent, who drove the lad to the hospital, Nilesh wouldn't have been able to reach there on time and get his finger stitched.
"We have a doctor for every match, but he didn't turn up today," said MSSA hockey secretary N Chandrashekhar, who alongwith St Andrew's coach Sabby Noronha accompanied the injured player to hospital.
Noronha did not hold back his feelings:u00a0 "Hockey is a dangerous game hence a doctor is a must. MSSA should not conduct a match without a doctor being present. Nilesh got away with just two stitches on his little finger.
Had the injury been fatal, who would take this responsibility?" Don Bosco coach Javed Sayed slammed the organisers too: "In the name of first aid, what the MSSA has is a ice-pack. It is mandatory for a doctor to be present at a match. But they are least bothered about such things." St Andrew's defeated the Malad team 2-1 for a third place finish in the MSSA Fr Donnelly Challenge Cup for under-14 boys.
