Sport

Forecast Australian heat delays Phoenix kick-off

13:06 pm on 7 March 2024

Ben Old of the Phoenix Photo: PHOTOSPORT

The Wellington Phoenix's round 20 A-League match against Melbourne City on Saturday has been pushed back one and a half hours due to extreme heat forecast for Melbourne.

The temperature is expected to be 35 degrees at 5:30pm AEDT (7:30pm NZT), when the match was originally scheduled to kick-off at AAMI Park.

In line with provisions of the Australian Professional Leagues heat policy the game will now kick-off at 9pm (NZT), when it's forecast to have cooled a few degrees.

It is one of four A-Leagues matches impacted by the hot weather forecast for Melbourne and Adelaide this weekend.

The Phoenix are at the top of the A-League table and look set for playoffs with six games left in the regular season. Whereas City are in 8th and are fighting to get into the top six.