Reports suggest the strike hit during a cup tie at Santiphap Stadium in Sungai Golok, with the match halted immediately. The report says Awae had only recently joined Yala FC, making the loss feel even more cruel for a player who appeared to be taking an important next step in his career.
Football often treats delays as inconvenience:
But this story shows why delay is always preferable to danger.
The most widely used guidance is the 30-30 rule, endorsed broadly across football settings. If thunder follows lightning within 30 seconds, the storm is considered close enough to stop play. The standard wait is at least 30 minutes, and the clock restarts with every new strike.
In plain terms:
Recent events have shown how strict weather calls can reshape matches. The report says one World Cup game in Philadelphia was paused for almost two hours, while another in Mexico City started an hour late. In the Club World Cup, a lightning interruption reportedly stretched Chelsea v Benfica into an ordeal lasting more than four hours from first whistle to finish.
Mbappe called that wait “uma noite muito longa,” while Didier Deschamps said his squad “jogou cartas” to pass the time. Those quotes are light-hearted on the surface, but the message underneath is serious: the waiting is the protocol.
The next storyline to watch is whether more federations, especially outside the biggest tournaments, invest in clearer lightning detection and tougher automatic stoppage rules before the next storm tests football again.