B.C. judge orders man to pay $103K over slide tackle that ‘seriously injured’ fellow soccer player

A stock photo shows a soccer ball on a field. (Shutterstock)

Nearly five years after a man was seriously injured in a recreational soccer match in North Vancouver, the player who slide tackled him has been ordered to pay more than $103,000 in damages.

Karl Cox’s actions during the game at the Windsor Soccer Field on May 22 resulted in serious injury to Jordan David Miller, Justice Wendy A. Baker wrote in her B.C. Supreme Court decision Friday.

Miller suffered a Grade 3 dislocation of the right acromioclavicular joint as a result of the tackle—a move the judge deemed negligent.

“His actions resulted in serious injury to Mr. Miller, for which he is liable,” Baker wrote, concluding that Cox had to pay $103,764.11 in damages, “plus costs and disbursements.”

Slide tackles were permitted under the FIFA rules used in the match in question, Baker notes in the ruling, but if the referee deems the move to be “careless, reckless, or with excessive force” a player can be penalized.

Cox—who was three inches taller and 40 pounds heavier than Miller when the men found themselves playing on opposite teams in a soccer match—was given a yellow card as a result of the tackle, and Miller’s team got to take a penalty shot, according to the decision.

The judge found that, while there’s a degree of assumed risk of injury while playing soccer, Cox did not give Miller the chance to brace for impact, since he approached from behind.

“The impact was severe, and Mr. Miller was thrown forward face first into the ground. He did not have time to put his hands out in front of himself to break his fall,” Baker wrote.

Miller, who’s described as an experienced soccer player, testified that he’d been slide tackled before, but felt Cox’s intention was to cause harm rather than gain possession of the ball.

Some players who were called as witnesses during the trial described the tackle as dangerous, unusual and “too aggressive.”

The referee told the court that he considered giving Cox a red card, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Nearly all of the witnesses agreed that it was unlikely Cox would have been able to get to the ball by slide tackling Miller in the way he did.

In her decision, Baker agreed that “there was no possibility of him reaching the ball.”

“I find Mr. Cox was well aware of the risk of injury to Mr. Miller in undertaking the tackle as he did. He nevertheless decided to proceed,” she wrote.