‘An accident waiting to happen’: experts call for Australian rules football safety overhaul after player death

Australian rules football is facing renewed safety scrutiny after the death of a suburban player. According to The Guardian, Nathan Fitzgerald, a twenty-seven-year-old Melbourne school teacher, died in hospital on Monday following a horror accident on Saturday. The Epping reserves footballer is believed to have clashed heads with an opponent while tackling, taken a second blow as he fell, and struck his head a third time on a concrete-based cricket pitch in the middle of the ground. Sports safety advocates say Australia must finally confront a deadly risk that has plagued its native football code for more than one hundred twenty years. One concussion advocate described the concrete-based pitches as totally unsafe, calling the tragedy an accident waiting to happen.

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