Ireland abandon warm up game against ‘overly physical’ Colombia

Ireland abandoned a Women’s World Cup warm-up game behind closed doors on Friday because of the “overly physical” play of opponents, Colombia.

Irish media reported that local referee Caitlin Williams had already shown two Colombians yellow cards in the game at Ireland’s training base south of Brisbane, before Denise O’Sullivan suffered a shin injury in a tackle.

The Football Association of Ireland released a statement saying play “became overly physical and it was decided, following consultation with the match officials, to end the game.”

It added that the “Ireland team then underwent a full training session.”

O’Sullivan, a midfielder, who has 102 caps, was taken to hospital.

The Colombian Football Confederation posted a statement on their website saying the game “was suspended because the Irish National Team…chose not to continue playing after 23 minutes of the first half had elapsed.”

“While all the processes and training of our national teams are framed within the rules of the game, healthy competition and FairPlay, among others, we respect the decision of our rival team,” it added. 

Irish media complained that they had not been allowed to watch the match and had not seen the incident. 

“Seemingly, Colombia manager Nelson Abadia was concerned about his tactics being spread far and wide,” reported the Irish Times.

Ireland make their Women’s World Cup debut against hosts Australia on July 20 in Sydney. 

Colombia kick off against South Korea, also in Sydney, on July 25