The National Women’s Soccer League said that it would abandon future games when players have life-threatening emergencies, acknowledging Friday that the game should have ended after Angel City‘s Savy King collapsed on the field during a match on May 9.
Play resumed after roughly 10 minutes of medical attention, and the game between Angel City and the Utah Royals was completed. King subsequently underwent surgery for a heart abnormality discovered after her collapse.
The NWSL Players Association said this week that the game should not have continued, and the union called for future games to be abandoned because of medical emergencies.
“Having reviewed our protocols and how they were implemented, and in listening to feedback from our stakeholders, the Angel City vs Utah game last Friday night should not have continued,” the NWSL said in a statement issued to ESPN on Friday. “The health and well being of the entire NWSL community remains our top priority, and in any similar situation going forward the game should and would be abandoned.”
In a later statement posted on social media, the league added that it “regret” that the game continued.
The players’ association welcomed the league’s announcement.
“The League’s acknowledgment that the…
