To the Editor: In their recent article, Makdissi and Brukner stated that resumption of play should follow the "30/30" rule.1 In the article, the authors cited three references, each of which relates to position statements rather than to any scientific reference that "blue skies and lack of rainfall are not adequate reason to breach the 30 minute return to play rule".2-4

Unless there are reasonable scientific explanations why lightning should strike someone in the presence of blue skies, I would think that this policy needs some reconsideration. It seems logical that if a storm is moving away, the skies should become blue, and the time between lightning and thunder should increase. I would have thought that if there was a weather watcher around, he or she could monitor the situation, and ascertain that the storm was moving away, and this would allow for earlier resumption of sport.

Can you imagine a weather watcher preventing play in an AFL game, or even a minor suburban game of football, because of the threat of lightning if the skies were indeed blue?

If I am to take this recommendation to my local football club, I would like to see evidence that this has some credible scientific backing.