Coventry’s clash with Rotherham in huge doubt over player safety

Coventry’s Championship clash with Rotherham is reportedly in huge doubt over player safety with a pitch inspection planned.

It comes after the Commonwealth Games rugby sevens matches were played at the Coventry Building Society Arena (formerly) Ricoh Arena.

A pitch inspection is due to take place to see if the match can go ahead, however Coventry manager Mark Robins has been left furious and insists there is no way they can play.

According to reports on Friday afternoon, he said: “Well, it’s not in good nick that’s for sure. It’s nowhere near the level that we expect or need,” Robins said. “There’ve been issues, obviously, because they’ve had the Commonwealth Games there and had a concert on it in the summer.

“We’ve just not had the time, because of the World Cup in the winter, to rectify the problems. There are problems, it’s not safe at the moment. There’ll be a pitch inspection tomorrow (Saturday) at 6pm and we will see from there.

“Clearly we’ve been let down, there’s no doubt about it, we’ve been let down. The pitch needs to be in better working order because it has to be safe for people to play on and at this moment in time, it’s not.

NEWS: Coventry City can confirm that a pitch inspection will take place on Saturday, ahead of Sunday’s home game against Rotherham United.

➡️ https://t.co/ISRGrBlP5q #PUSB pic.twitter.com/HpGlAJID7N

— Coventry City (@Coventry_City) August 5, 2022

“There’s a bit of work that needs to be done and they need to get that rectified as soon as possible. This is something that the groundsmen are trying their socks off to do.”

The Sky Blues boss continued: “(The Rotherham game) can’t be played if the pitch is dangerous so we’ve got to get that up to standard and it’s not up to standard at the moment. The thing is we’ve got a situation where they need time to get that problem alleviated and rectified because it’s just not good enough for anybody. We have been let down.”

Robins said that a new pitch had been scheduled to be laid prior to the Commonwealth Games but that had not occurred. When asked who was responsible for the pitch not being replaced, the Sky Blues boss said that there was “no point blaming anybody” but that he was unsure why replacing the turf had not gone ahead as planned.

CLUB STATEMENT:

Coventry City can confirm that there will be a pitch inspection at the Coventry Building Society Arena at 6pm on Saturday, ahead of our home game against Rotherham United.

Concerns have been raised regarding the condition of the pitch at the Arena and there will be an inspection by a senior referee.

We will keep supporters updated following this inspection on Saturday.

Of course, fans reacted as Coventry’s clash with Rotherham is said to be in huge doubt over player safety…

@ccfc_1987: Why surprised? Wasps are £65m in debt and haven’t maintained the stadium since they had it given to them. They are absolutely skint on the bones of their arses so how do you expect them to maintain a playing surface if the can’t afford a tin of paint?

@Joeytaylor123: Honestly so fucking embarrassed, this is a complete and utter joke. Not angry with the football club or groundsmen here, we’ve been let down by the ground ownership. Embarassing.

@CharlieEwanHawk: Reyt laugh😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

@skybluedave74: This is a disgrace, @waspsrugby should be ashamed that the opening home game of the season might have to be called off due to a substandard pitch. Every year there’s pitch issues and every year Wasps claim they will be resolved but here we are again #PUSB

@JasonG84Gaffa: Your taking the piss!!

@Moseley3_: Can we kick the egg chasers out of our city? Asking for a friend

@LiveyCov1982: How embarrassing is this shambles😩

@Gilbers84: Not going lie lads I have had this sesh booked in for 5 weeks. I have a newborn baby and two dogs who can be utter dicks. I need this.

@MumfordOlly: Swear to god if the one thing I’ve been looking forward to all week gets called of I’m gonna take a pigeons head clean off it’s shoulders

@surgicalscalpel: And if the pitch is garbage?

@barnsey__15: Thought that said invasion then, admin predicting a Coventry city time winner already

Grimace. #pusb pic.twitter.com/sfRfrn09Qf

— Tom Watson (@tomlw93) August 5, 2022

@powellycov: Been coming for months with what the ground staff have had to put up with, was never enough time to turn everything around

@HarryNC22: How embarrassing… should never have happened

@ballersbox: Wow! This is a shambles @WaspsRugby

@markjones143: Happy to bring my snow shovel down to make sure we get this game on 💪

@craigtaggart96: This will defo be called off then. Commonwealth have destroyed the love new surface

@MarkLancashire: 6pm tomorrow night?? Telling me you can’t get a ref down there to have a look at the pitch for another 26 hours. Absolute shambles.

@craigj837: Flight booked from Northern Ireland for this and then this news might be called off! @Coventry_City not our fault as a club but shambles this was allowed to played on for rugby 7s by the wasps.

@Limes_361: If the surface is lifting then I reckon it will be off. I don’t think they would postpone it for bald patches? Shambles. Once again, Wasps not having the minerals to look after the place

@avi_c7: I’ve seen a picture of the pitch as of today and it’s unacceptable that we should be expected to play on a surface like that. Needs to be some serious questions asked…

@gibbo909: Time to move along Wasps, I’d like to say I feel sorry for the bond holders but I don’t.

@b_wisey82: Call it off. Save the pitch and the players!

@RobOMalley8: We still get loyalty points though, right?

@skybluecol: Club will get fined for this if it’s called off

@ianrussell88: I know the club can’t help this as it was arranged with the owners of he ground to host the rugby 7’s but this is a disgrace that the pitch isn’t possibly playable what happens in a couple of months once wasps also play on it and it gets dug up even more?!

@beerspanner: It was bad on day one of the rugby sevens I think pop concert crowd did it the other month 🙈