Safety Issues Ends Belgian Football Season

For the past couple weeks, I had a passing interest in the drama going on in the Belgian American Football League. During the semifinal between the Limburg Shotguns and Brussels Tigers on November 13th, a Tigers player lost consciousness after receiving a concussion. There was no ambulance present at the stadium so they had to wait over 20 minutes for one to arrive and take him to the hospital. The Shotguns wanted to delay the game until another ambulance arrived but the Tigers was like NAH, picked up their stuff and left thus ending the game. The fact that earlier that week on the 7th they played the Ghent Gators where they didn't realize a ambulance was missing until halftime probably played a part in their decision to take their ball and go home. At least then, a ambulance did show up after a extended break and they continued playing without any major injuries. But here, the players were understandably shaken up by the events and wanted no part of continuing the game.

There's literally a place for ambulances to the left of the stadium? Park? Just go around and check before the game!

Afterwards, the Tigers was awaiting a punishment to the Shotguns since they broke the BAFL's rule requiring the home team to provide a ambulance before the game starts. Instead, they simply rescheduled the game since their playoff game shouldn't have started in the first place. This ticked off Tigers president Pascal Decoo because Limburg violated the league's safety protocols and nothing came of it. So they straight up boycotted the league refusing to play again rationalizing that the ambulance rule "is very important and cannot be weak”.

This is from two years ago since the actual game has been scrubbed from history.

But that's not all! Their crosstown rival and defending champion the Brussels Black Angels joined in on the protest and refused to play in Belgian Bowl XXXIII! They also felt the league wasn't too concerned about player's safety so putting the championship game at risk of not being played will force the BAFL's hand and show them they're committed to player's health. As for Limburg, they offered to pay for two ambulances in the rescheduled game and said the ambulance was simply late for their first matchup.

And to think, they was on a three bowl winning streak before the pandemic canceled the 2020 season.

The BAFL later responded that their decision to reschedule the game instead of imposing a forfeit or other punishments was based on a previous game that was played without a ambulance. A player got hurt, the teams waited for one to arrive, then they agreed to replay the game at another date. Since no one noticed the missing ambulance, there was no malice, so the game must be replayed due to the ambulance rule voiding their first game. They offered "creating a fund to finance safety projects" to make nice with the boycotting teams but threatened to ban them from all BAFL and IFAF related activities for three years if they don't end their protest or pay for the costs of the missed rematch and Belgian Bowl.

Limburg already booked Mijnstadion in Beringen for the championship game on the 27th, so they put out a open challenge on the 24th in a way to salvage the Belgian Bowl and play SOME game on that day. No Belgian team could make the trip on such sort notice and neither Brussels based club would bulge from boycotting so the BAFL declared the Limburg Shotguns Belgian champions. It's unclear what they will do with the open date since everything is already paid for. Maybe they can do a flag football tournament?

Too bad the odd men out of the playoffs the Izegem Tribes didn't answer the call.

All this drama got me to thinking about how ambulances are provided here in America. It was surprisingly hard to get the full details on who provides what when it comes to medical personnel in the NFL. Basically, there are 30 medical people at each stadium who are either employed by the teams or are unaffiliated medical staff approved by the NFL and NFLPA. The NCAA likewise have an emergency action plan for all schools that require medical personal at every stadium and transportation to hospitals during games.

High schools however can get dodgy. For instance, in football crazed Texas, the UIL doesn't mandate ambulances to be present at games. I thought that was nuts until I saw there are currently 1,237 football programs across UIL's six conferences. Many of those schools can't even afford to have one physician available on standby. So the UIL requires all schools to have a EAP where there's someone who's trained to render aid, a designated vehicle available to transport injured players and prior arrangements with the local hospital or clinic to treat injuries. It was quite shocking to see how wildly different injury treatment is in high school sports across the country. Depending on where you are, the school/district pays for a ambulance/has a contract with local hospitals and clinics, the city provides EMT's to games, medical personal volunteer at games, athletic trainers doubles as teachers to stay on staff or schools just go without them because they don't want to pay for it.

Which leads me back to this Belgian safety issue. A league official should've prevented the game from starting since the ambulance was late getting there. So the BAFL should do what the NFL and NCAA does and have their own EAP in the case that a ambulance is not available, they have someone highly qualified to stabilize the player and take him to the hospital instead of waiting 20-30 minutes for a ambulance to arrive. 

As for the boycotts, the BAFL could've offered to handle ambulance responsibilities themselves to make sure something like this doesn't happen again. But if the two Brussels team still wouldn't end their protest, then they had no choice but to end the season and award Limburg their Belgian championship. They only have five teams in the league's ELITE division so if they boot out the Tigers and Black Angels, next season will become more pointless than the final years of the Arena Football League. And it's a shame because this league has been around for 35 years. I would hate to see this league shutdown over something that can be easily remedied. Months later, people should have calmed down and be willing to draft up a EAP that everyone can agree to. Like a official at every game who's only job is to check if a ambulance is present and every safety protocol is being followed before, during and after games.

This is only the second longform post I made on this blog. I just kept thinking about it and just had to get it out there. By the time I publish this Saturday they will probably have some sort of all star game or a soccer game to fill that date to make this whole soliloquy outdated. Oh well, at least I learned something new out of all this. As for the Limburg Shotguns, it may not be how you wanted it but a win is a win. Congratulations to the BAFL Belgian Bowl XXXIII winners!

Just like with the Houston Roughnecks, the only undefeated team becomes champion by default.