Manaus play down World Cup pitch problems

Officials at the Amazonia Arena in Manaus, where England will go up against Italy in their respective World Cup opener on June 14, Thursday played down reports over-extensive use of fertilizer has damaged the pitch. The stadium, finally inaugurated last week after concerns over the laggardly pace of construction, will host four World Cup opening phase matches but patches of the pitch are almost bare. "The grass foliage in two areas of the pitch at the Amazonia Arena withered following a problem with the mechanical application of fertilizer," a spokesman for the local organizers told AFP. But he stressed the problem was confined to small areas. "The areas are less than a square meter and this all happened three weeks ago. The fault in the equipment has been dealt with and grass replanted in areas affected to help speed up the recovery process. "Given we are only talking about a small area, seedings were taken from the pitch itself for replanting. "The problem has not caused harm regarding using the pitch as, during this time, (the three weeks in question) two official matches took place at the Amazonia Arena," the spokesman concluded, in allusion to two test games. As well as hosting England's game with four-time world champions Italy, Manaus will stage matches between Portugal and the United States, Cameroon and Croatia and Switzerland and Honduras. Although the brand new 44,000-seater, $279 million arena, shaped like a woven basket typical of the region, is spectacular, controversy has dogged the project. The site saw three fatal accidents during construction and there remain fears the ground may prove a 'white elephant' with the Amazon region not home to any top football clubs for use after the Wolrd Cup. Last September, one possible future use mooted was as a detention center. Source: AFP