Trinidad insist US game on despite water-logged pitch

Couva (Trinidad and Tobago) (AFP) – The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association insisted Monday the country’s 2018 World Cup qualifier with the United States would go ahead despite a heavily waterlogged pitch at the Ato Boldon Stadium.

The United States will seal their place at the World Cup on Tuesday with victory over already-eliminated Trinidad and Tobago following their 4-0 rout of Panama on Friday.

However the US squad arrived for training on Monday at the match venue in Couva to find large lakes of water ringing the pitch.

One corner of the playing field was entirely submerged by water while US players could be seen wading through the water to get to the pitch.

Several photos of the conditions were posted on the US Soccer Federation’s official Twitter feed — a move that drew a frosty response from the Trinidad and Tobago FA (TTFA) in a statement.

“The Trinidad and Tobago Football Association has noted with concern several social media posts by the US Soccer Team’s official Twitter account,” a statement said.

“These posts highlighted rain water around the track which was the only area so affected at the Ato Boldon Stadium … the posts however failed to note the adverse weather patterns which the country faced over several days leading up to today.”

The statement said stadium management were aware of the situation and were pumping water off the track.”

“Further, although the water basin on the track around the field was visibly high, the decision to use or not use the field is at the discretion of the Match Commissioner,” it added.

“However the TTFA continues to work alongside Stadium Management to prepare the facility for tomorrow’s planned game and all parties are confident the game will be contested.”