Tonight’s FIFA World Cup 2014 qualifying match between Poland and England has been postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. Nothing wrong with that, in exceptional circumstances – and clearly the quite epic rain in Warsaw was exceptional – these things happen. And yet certain parties involved in tonight’s postponement have made a total pig’s ear of the battle against the downpour.
The National Stadium in Warsaw has a roof, which is the key fact in tonight’s disgraceful developments. We live in a world where weather forecasting is so accurate that it boggles my tiny brain, and the authorities in Poland knew the rain was on its way. The only reason not to have closed the roof would have been if both teams chose not to, and if the rain was not expected to be heavy. For a match of this magnitude, which such a distance traveled by the visiting team and supporters, even that isn’t easily justifiable.
If it’s going to rain, shut the roof. You know, just in case. What harm can it do?
The window of opportunity closed far more quickly. Quite understandably it is difficult to close the roof in heavy rain and high winds – I’m not an expert in such matters, but presumably there is a reason why it’s not fully automatic and that’s fair enough. But by the time ITV’s coverage began it was clear from the television pictures alone that the match would not go ahead. There was a pitch inspection at kick-off time, after which the postponement should (in my opinion) have been announced and the negotiations about a rearranged fixture should have begun.
FIFA regulations may have dictated what happened next, but it’s still ridiculous. With the roof unable to be closed, the rain continuing and the pitch still sodden, everyone waited. They gave it a chance, as if they were just looking for a giant plug under the pitch and simply had to yank it from its hole.
The game was finally called off the best part of an hour after the original kick-off time and the rearrangement announcement was mercifully swift. The match will now be played at 4pm UK time tomorrow.
The whole evening appears to have been a total shambles, and it is my view that questions must be asked of both FIFA and the Polish officials. Rain happens, but when there is a retractable roof on the stadium it is downright incompetent to not have it closed when inclement weather is forecast. Not all grounds can have a roof, but in a stadium that does there should never be a rain postponement. Right now, in the heat of the moment, I’m not a million miles from trying to argue that England should be awarded the win.
You can bet that one or two Premier League clubs had their lawyers primed, and the same clubs will be preparing the lost day as an excuse for defeat at the weekend. But the real losers – and isn’t this the case every single time something goes wrong in football? – are the supporters. Both English and Polish fans traveled enormous distances for this fixture, booked hotels and flights, and will now miss out. That’s the real issue.
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I try hard not to be a cynical person but I suspect that once the Poles knew it was going to chuck it down they sniffed a chance to get the match delayed to another FIFA window, by which time Kubi Blaszczykowski would have been fit again.
I must admit, Kuba crossed my mind. But I don’t believe they or any other federation would have the balls to pull that off and get away with it.
Although rain was predicted for Tuesday evening, the sheer amount did take a few people by surprise. Even so, representatives from both sides, as well as a FIFA match delegate, decided on Monday evening that the roof was to remain open. I can only speculate, but the adverse effects of a closed roof – seen in the Euro 2012 opener between Poland and Greece – would likely have been what both sides looked at.
By the time that the deluge started, it was likely too close to the game to do anything about it. Such a large amount of rain in a short period left the drainage systems unable to cope. However, by midnight, the pitch was almost completely puddle-free.
Many people mentioned that the authorities should have closed the roof to prevent any more water on the pitch, however that wasn’t possible. There were concerns about the action of closing the roof during such a downpour, and also concerns about the safety of supporters.
The design of the stadium’s roof means that, unlike most roofed-stadia, the cover doesn’t emerge from above the stands, making it’s way towards the centre of the pitch. Instead, the roof (made from PVC) extends from the centre of the stadium – above the giant screens suspended from the permanent shelters. If they had closed the roof whilst it was still raining, there was a risk that huge amounts of standing water would be poured from the roof onto the fans below.
In essence, there were poor decisions made from all sides, and mother nature did her fair share too. The Polish authorities did make their fair share of bad decisions, but it seems it was one of those cases where hindsight would have come in handy.
As for the Błaszczykowski situation, i’m actually quite looking forward to seeing him replacement, Paweł Wszołek perform – he could definitely be one to watch this afternoon.