Coventry forced to call off match versus Wigan as pitch ‘not safe’ as club blames lack of investment
COVENTRY CITY have postponed their Championship clash with Wigan Athletic next week due to an UNSAFE pitch.
The turf at the Coventry Building Society Arena has been badly damaged damage due to the recent heatwaves in the UK.
It also suffered damage during the Commonwealth Games Rugby 7s, so much so City's Championship opener against Rotherham was postponed.
And after further inspection by an EFL-appointed "agronomy company", The Sky Blues - who share their stadium with rugby side Wasps - have been forced to reschedule next Tuesday's visit of The Latics.
A club statement read: "Coventry City are very disappointed to have to provide a further update regarding the pitch at the Coventry Building Society Arena, and to confirm the postponement of Tuesday’s home game against Wigan Athletic.
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"On Thursday, an independent internationally established research and agronomy company, appointed by the EFL, evaluated the pitch at the Arena.
"They have experience at a range of international tournaments and stadiums in the UK and abroad.
"It was their finding that the pitch would not be safe or playable for Tuesday’s game against Wigan Athletic.
"We had been hopeful that, following the postponements of the last week, that the pitch at the Arena would have improved sufficiently to enable our game against Wigan Athletic to go ahead and had been planning for this to be the case.
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"However, it is sadly clear that this is not possible and we are therefore forced to postpone Tuesday’s game against Wigan Athletic.
"We apologise for the inconvenience caused to Coventry City fans, players and staff and Wigan Athletic and their fans, players and staff.
"We did explore the possibility of reversing the fixture, but unfortunately due to other events at the DW Stadium this was not possible."
Coventry chief executive Dave Boddy claims the degradation of the pitch is down to a lack of investment.
He said: “We are very disappointed to report the lack of improvement in the pitch, and we are very disappointed for our supporters, players and staff again that we have now had to postpone Tuesday’s home game against Wigan Athletic.
“I met with Stephen Vaughan at Wasps/the Arena on Monday and have been in regular contact via email since.
“To be clear, this is not the fault of the grounds staff.
“Promised investment into a new pitch, which was a fundamental part of the extensive negotiations for the Club to return and then again a promise made publicly following the announcement of our return in March 2021, has not happened and there has been no significant refurbishment or repair work over the Summer either.
“Our concerns over the quality of the pitch have not been addressed, and we were extremely disappointed to be told in June that Wasps had made the decision not to take any action to put a new surface in.
“We still, despite repeated requests and the high-profile and urgent nature of this situation, await an 'action plan' from them to address this major issue, which they promised to implement publicly last Saturday."
Boddy insists it's the fans, not the players, who are paying the price for the stadium's pitch problems,
He said: “It is our supporters who are suffering in this mess, and the players and staff too.
“These are incredibly difficult circumstances for the Football Club.
"The pitch has now been independently found to be unsafe and unplayable by the agronomists and previously by EFL match officials, and we are now desperate for this situation to be resolved by the Arena and Wasps.
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“We will continue to keep supporters updated, and will provide further news as soon as possible.”
Coventry - who are currently 18th in the Championship table - will be back in action this afternoon, travelling to South London to take on Millwall.