PLAN A, B AND C IS MBOMBELA’
LOC working to improve damaged pitch
THERE will be no plan B or C to replace the Mbombela Stadium cabbage patch, no matter what the state of the turf is for the Afcon semifinal on Wednesday.
Today quarterfinalists Togo and Burkina Faso will have the misfortune of taking to a pitch that the Afcon local organising committee (LOC) and the stadium groundsmen have been working around the clock to rectify.
Before the start of the tournament the Mbombela turf was regarded as one of the best of the five venues hosting the continental showpiece.
However, after the first match at the venue between Zambia and Ethiopia, concerns over the state of the pitch were expressed.
Since then the condition of the pitch has deteriorated rapidly, making control of the ball dif ficult.
LOC chief executive Mvuzo Mbebe on Friday said the damage to the pitch was caused by heavy rains, resulting in the growth of algae which ate
“away at the grass ”.
The groundsmen attempted to get rid of the algae with chemicals, but more rain prevented the chemicals from being effective. Mbebe said: We got turf experts
“to assist in improving the standard of the pitch. The sand has been removed and additional chemicals added to assist the fertiliser in the growth of the grass. If it rains again this process will be disturbed.”
Asked whether an alternative venue would be found if the state of the Mbombela turf worsens, Caf general secretary Hicham El Amrani responded: Plan A, B and C is
“Mbombela. But we will work hard to improve the pitch.”
Caf and the LOC, meanwhile, are concerned about the attendance at Port Elizabeth s Nelson Mandela Bay
’ Stadium, which will host one quarterfinal and a third-place playoff, and about quarterfinal venue Royal Bafokeng Stadium in North West.
Ticket sales for the semifinals and final are said to be booming, with only 6 000 tickets left for the final at the National Stadium next Sunday.