Manaus’ World Cup stadium pitch in bad shape

The World Cup in Brazil has become one PR and logistical nightmare after another. Whether it’s the ongoing transportation workers strike in Sao Paolo, or citizen protests over the cost and broken promises by the Brazilian government—it hasn’t been a great lead up to the World Cup.

However, the hope has been that once the games get going themselves, things will settle down and Brazil will get some good publicity. That won’t be happening any time soon either, as photos of major issues with the playing surface at the Manuas World Cup stadium surfaced.

Not a good look just three days in advance of one of the World Cup’s biggest group stage games—England vs. Italy. Add in three more games on the pitch in just a short span, including USA vs. Portugal, and this could have disaster written all over it.

If the pitch is the last thought of part of a $300 million stadium in the middle of nowhere in the Amazon rainforest, Brazil is simply…doing it wrong.

Even the grounds crew at the Arena Amazonia are admitting the terrible shape the pitch is in, and it may not get any better according to a quote from the head groundsman Carlos Botella in The Telegraph.

“Frankly, Manaus is in bad shape,” Botella told the Associated Press. “We’ve started to implement an emergency plan to try to save the field and improve it as much as possible, but I don’t think it’ll be in good condition by the weekend.

“Yesterday we put fertiliser, and we’ll increase the fertilising process with biostimulants and seeds to try to get the most out of the grass.”

Let’s just hope it doesn’t cause injuries or ugly games in arguably two of the most difficult groups in this World Cup.

About Andrew Coppens

Andy is a contributor to The Comeback as well as Publisher of Big Ten site talking10. He also is a member of the FWAA and has been covering college sports since 2011. Andy is an avid soccer fan and runs the Celtic FC site The Celtic Bhoys. If he's not writing about sports, you can find him enjoying them in front of the TV with a good beer!

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