Rain Puts Paid To Motlakase-Chiefs Game
Correspondent | Monday March 10, 2014 15:24
Heavy downpours 30 minutes before the game made the pitch unplayable, forcing the cancellation.
“We cancelled the game because the pitch was waterlogged and not fit for play,” the match commissioner, Boitumelo Thwabi told The Monitor Sport.
However Chiefs spokesman, Clifford Mogomotsi did not take kindly to the development, saying they knew this was going to happen. He said they told the league managers that the weather was not good for play, but they were dismissed. “We were told that the game will go ahead as planned. If you look at this pitch, there is no problem with playing on it, except when it rains,” he said. Mogomotsi demanded in such instances, they should be compensated for the expenses the incurred because their warnings were ignored. He sympathised with supporters who traveled from different places for the game, saying clubs are not taken seriously whenever they raised alarm over fixtures during the rains.
Motlakase spokesperson, Abel Lebopo refused to apportion blame saying that the way forward should be the main focus. “We had a pre-match meeting and both teams felt the pitch was playable, but when we came in for warm up, everything changed. It started to rain for and everything was ruined,” he said. He said weather forecasts predicted rain in the Central District over weekend but did not specifically pinpoint Palapye.
A disappointed Chiefs supporter Monty Maifele said that it was heartbreaking to come all the way from Mochudi and fail to see his beloved team in action. He said they have spent on food, fuel and sacrificed family time for nothing. He said it was obvious on Saturday that the rains will affect the pitch and wondered why the football authorities did not postpone the match.
“We could even tell on our way here that it was going to rain but the question is where does our football officials live. Its high time all Premier League games are played on turf because this rain wouldn’t have stopped play if the pitch had turf,” he said.
For Motlakase this is the third time they are involved in the postponement of a match due to the rains this season. Their games against BMC and ECCO City Greens failed to kick-off because of heavy downpours.