Angolan defender Nandinho’s Russian club FC Rostov, has been banned from playing matches on its home ground due to the terrible and poor condition of its turf.
This comes a week after Manchester United coach Jose Mourinho, was in an uproar before the two sides’ Europa first leg clash wherein a rant, he expressed his concerns over the state of the pitch prior to the match.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“It is hard for me to believe that we are going to play on that field if you can call it a field.[/perfectpullquote]
“I was expecting something more playable. It’s a very similar pitch to the one in Beijing [United refused to play on during the pre-season].
“I told one gentleman from UEFA of my concerns. He just told me the players are insured, so what happens to them is no problem,” he said
“I was analyzing this very good opponent that we didn’t speak about yet, and in their previous matches against Bayern, Ajax, Atletico Madrid, in all these matches it looked for me a very playable pitch.
“I was very surprised with what I found here today,” Mourinho added.
The Russian Football Premier League (RFPL) unlike UEFA who gave the go-ahead green light for last week’s game, has deemed the surface unsuitable and banned the side from playing home matches at the stadium until the quality improves.
This was confirmed this on its official website in a statement pointing out the reasons for the ban.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“The RFPL commission for the admission of football fields with natural and artificial covers, have imposed a ban on holding Russian Premier League matches at the Rostov “Olympus-2” and Kazan “Central” stadiums.[/perfectpullquote]
“The ban is imposed until the identified shortcomings are eliminated and the fields are brought into line with the established requirements of the regulatory documents.”
This is the second Russian side to receive a ban due to the quality of the pitch. League opponents Rubin Kazan, has also had the same ban imposed in on its home ground in the past.
The side now has up to March 24th when the RFPL will conduct another inspection to decide if the improvements deem it safe enough to host its next league match against FC Krasnodar.
Featured photo: Getty Images
