Lightning doesn't have to hit a player to electrocute them, if lightning
hits the ground the current radiates away in all directions across the
surface and a pair of legs that are apart on the ground will have enough
voltage drop across them to fry the player quite effectively.

There's a piece of footage which crops up quite frequently on these reality
TV shows which shows a CG strike on the pitch and all the footy players
going down at once.

Les

--
Les Crossan,
Wallsend, Tyne & Wear 55N 01-30W,
Home of the Wallsend Stormcam - http://www.uksevereweather.org.uk

"a" wrote in message
...
As some of you might know a game was abandoned and one called off last
night
at Old Trafford because there was lots of lightning around and the referee
feared for the safety of the players (and fans). Would there really have
been any significant risk of a lightning strike hitting a player when you
consider the pitch is surrounded by huge metal stands (a couple of hundred
feet high I guess) on each side? I would have thought any lightning would
strike the stands (they thing one of the stands was hit last night) and go
to earth rather than through the remaining air?




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