This evening, the world feed of the FIH Women’s Nations Cup featured this card:
The “force majeur event,” according to at least one source connected with the team, is a power outage that has affected some 19 million people in the nation of Chile. The central government declared a state of emergency and a curfew that runs from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m.
According to Gannett News Service, the blackout has affected the country from the northern Arica and Parinacota region to the southern Los Lagos region. The blackout has affected mining operations nationwide, although it was reported that the main airport in Santiago was running properly.
Floodlights could be seen illuminating the pitch at Chile’s national hockey stadium in Santiago, but the imminent curfew would have affected players, supporters, and officials looking to exit the site of competition after the match.
The game is scheduled for 9 a.m. Eastern time tomorrow, and will be for first place in Pool A, as Chile shut out Canada 5-0 in the other game in the pool.
I will be interested to see what happens to these two sides tomorrow as their usual game rhythm has been altered. It should also make it an interesting final day of pool play Thursday as both the Cherry Blossoms and the United Eagles will be on a back-to-back schedule.