Rain ruins Guwahati’s dream match
DAMP SQUIB Brazil’s lastfour match with England shifted from Guwahati to Kolkata due to poor pitch conditions GUWAHATI:
In soccer-crazy Northeast, tournaments involving lesser local teams attract a sizable crowd. Tickets of Wednesday’s semi-final match were thus almost sold out before the first match of FIFA U-17 World Cup was played here on October 8.
That Brazil would be playing the semi-final against England was more than anyone in region could have asked for. But nature had other ideas.
Four days of incessant rainfall – unusually high at an average 150mm, about 25% more than normal – made the Indira Gandhi Athletic Stadium here unplayable forcing FIFA to shift Wednesday’s semi-final to Kolkata.
“It is a sad day for football in these parts. We were perhaps not destined to hold the match,” Ankur Dutta, secretary of Assam Football Association told HT.
Assam government officials said they had prepared the pitch according to FIFA specifications. But they admitted to not having factored in the possibility of abnormal rainfall.
“Clogging of drainage system under the field complicated matters. And getting to the bottom of the problem would have meant digging up the turf,” an official said, seeking anonymity.
FIFA officials said the pitch was satisfactory until the eighth match of the tournament between Mali and Ghana on October 21. Mali won the raindrenched match 2-1, but Ghana found the going tough on the soggy ground.
The trigger for FIFA’s concern was Ghana coach Samuel Kwasi Fabin’s observation after the loss to Mali. “The match should have ideally been abandoned,” he said.
It continued to rain after the quarterfinal. Some 200 volunteers including tournament director Javier Ceppi worked non-stop for 48 hours to try and get the pitch match-ready. The tournament’s pitch consultants were flown from Kolkata while the state government requisitioned a Pawan Hans helicopter to dry the field with its rotor for 45 minutes.
But these did not help. FIFA let Brazil and England, who arrived during the day, to take a call. Brazil declined to play and England followed suit.
OFFICIALS SAID THEY HAD PREPARED THE PITCH ACCORDING TO FIFA SPECIFICATIONS. BUT THEY ADMITTED TO NOT HAVING FACTORED IN ABNORMAL RAINFALL.
FIFA later issued a statement saying the semi-final has been moved to Kolkata to “safeguard the players’ health and to ensure the best playing conditions” despite efforts “to preserve the pitch”.
Former footballer Gilbertson Sangma felt for fans who were waiting for the “biggest match” in these parts. “The shifting of the match is a letdown for us, but it should be a lesson in hosting international tournaments.”