Pompey’s game at Charlton was abandoned this afternoon after 12 minutes.
Andy Cullen has revealed why today’s televised match against Charlton was called off.
And Pompey’s top executive has extended his best wishes to the Addicks fan who became ill, forcing the Championship game to be canceled.
Following Cullen’s interview, it was discovered that the supporter had tragically died, with Charlton relaying the terrible news.
After fans notified stewards to a medical emergency in the Covered End stand, the match was called off in the 12th minute with no goals.
Both sides eventually retreated to the dressing room, and the match was called off around 45 minutes later, after which Cullen addressed the matter.
He stated: “These are not ideal situations for people who come to watch their team play football; our thoughts are with the individual, family, and friends.”
‘We know all too well from the tragedy at Fratton Park in January what it entails; that is the beginning point for this, and our thoughts are with those impacted.
‘I am not entirely sure what happened because I was not present; I was in the stands with everyone else. But we could clearly see what was going on, and it did not look good.
‘What we do know from the process is that these situations are dynamic, and you end up in a situation where there will be consultations with, first and foremost, the safety officer, who will be fully aware of what is going on around him, and his team will also be in communication with the medics and stewards.
‘That information will then be transmitted to the match officials, after which there will be a discussion. In this scenario, the head coaches of both teams were kept aware of what was going on while the incident was thoroughly investigated.
‘Then there will be a communication with EFL to keep them informed – because they are participating in the process – and decide whether or not to abandon a game.
‘Given the circumstances, I am told, and I am not in complete possession of the facts, it would be inappropriate for me to speak further.
‘But, based on that intelligence and that knowledge, a decision was made to cancel the game.’
Pompey tragically lost one of their own in January, when Alec Lumb died before their Fratton Park match against Middlesbrough.
The 63-year-old from Gosport fell ill just before kickoff, but the game went on, with John Mousinho’s side winning 2-1.
On this occasion, however, the Valley game was called off after 12 minutes.
Cullen continued, ‘Every game, every incident is dynamic, and you must judge everything in that circumstance. There were certain distinctions from our tragedy at Fratton Park, such as the fact that we had not yet begun the match when Alec tragically died.
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