GRIEVING FATHER EKS JUSTICE
O ski sues MUSA and FAM over son’s death
HREE years ago today, Stefan Petrovski, a promising 18-year-old Australian footballer, career took him to MMelaka team United, was by lightning. ed less than a month later pital in Melaka. ther, Marco Petrovski, is elaka United Soccer As(MUSA) ti n and the FA of a (FAM) after the fateful n during the team’s trainPadang s ion at Kerubong g Jebat Stadium. le parent, Petrovski had tefan since the age of is world crumbled when as pronounced dead due oxic ischemia encephalopathy (brain damage due to lack of oxygen during cardiac arrest) on May 1, 2016.
Petrovski is upset with MUSA’s lack of responsibility and empathy over his son’s tragic death.
He said MUSA have also failed to provide him with satisfactory answers to what actually happened or a clear account of the incident.
MUSA claimed that the tragedy was an act of God.
However, Petrovski found such an answer unacceptable.
He said the death of his son was so heartbreaking that it led to him suffering depression, becoming jobless, homeless and living out of his car.
However, Petrovski has has picked his life back up and is determined to see that his son, who previously play for Sydney Olympic, did not die for nothing.
He wants to change things in the M-League and create a legacy in the name of Stefan.
“This has caused so much pain, trauma and suffering.
“I want to make sure there will be no more (such) deaths as this is avoidable and preventable,” he said.
Petrovski said he is grateful to his friend, Keith Rovers, for helping him to pursue legal action against MUSA and FAM.
“None of this would have been possible as he (Rovers) was doing everything, organising it all when I was unable to even survive the next day as I was even having suicidal thoughts,” he said.
So, who should Petrovski blame for Stefan’s death?
“Ultimately, it is the club’s (MUSA) responsibility to provide a safe working environment for players, coaches and staff,” he said.
It does not help matters when Petrovski is already upset with MUSA for what he claimed was their failure to pay the balance of Stefan’s salary (for the duration of his contract) totalling AU$222,000 (RM645,000).
This has led to Petrovski filing a 25-page lawsuit for breach of contract and duties at the High Court of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur recently.
He said MUSA only paid Stefan his salary for April, 2016, but not for the remaining months and there was no insurance compensation.
“I did send two letters to request for payment. MUSA, Datuk Yusoff (Mahadi, MUSA deputy president) did not reply to the letters,” he said.
“They (MUSA) also failed to pay to the Employees Provident Fund for Stefan.”
Petrovski is suing MUSA for failing to comply with all the duties stipulated in the regulations which include ensuring their training facilities are fit and safe for training purposes, not having proper medical facilities and not having doctors or qualified medical practitioners around.
It is said they have also failed to comply with Fifa’s football emergency medicine manual that calls for implementation of a lightning safety plan to protect players on the field as well as treating players struck by lightning with cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and/or defibrillator for at least 30 minutes.
Petrovski is also suing FAM for failure to assess, inspect or verify MUSA’s compliance with the club licensing regulations before issuing them with a licence.
His legal action against FAM is on grounds of negligence and breach of Fifa regulations.
“I hope to expose the (alleged) malpractices in Malaysian football, get the people responsible to be held accountable, get compensation for my son’s death.”
Working closely with Professional Footballers Australia (PFA), who are funding an investigation into players’ safety, particularly in Asia, Petrovski said he hopes his legal action will ultimately lead to a systemic change in Malaysian football.
“Even if we could save just one life through the changes implemented, it would already be a good thing.
“Above all else, I want to make sure my son’s death was not in vain. We must prevent further loss of life,” he said.
Petrovski alleged that the weather forecast predicted rain and thunderstorm for the fateful day (April 5, 2016) but yet MUSA conducted training on an open field.
Among Petrovski’s allegations are: as the weather worsened, MUSA took no precautions to call off the training which was when Stefan, who was standing near a metal goal post, was struck by lightning and fell unconscious.
The team’s physiotherapist, who was also said to be struck by lightning himself, still tried to perform CPR on Stefan. Stefan was taken to the Melaka General Hospital in a private car, without any ambulance being called, and was deprived of emergency medical treatment when in cardiac arrest.
Several weeks later and after numerous requests, Stefan was transferred to a specialist hospital where he laid in a coma for less than a month and was pronounced dead on May 1, 2016.