Coventry City have postponed Tuesday’s Championship game with Wigan because of an “unplayable” pitch.
It is the third match at the Coventry Building Society Arena affected since problems with the surface were highlighted following 65 games of rugby sevens during the Commonwealth Games.
Last Saturday’s Rotherham game was called off and the midweek EFL Cup tie with Bristol City was moved to Burton.
An EFL statement on Saturday referred to “ongoing issues with the surface”.
While Coventry were allowed to move their midweek cup tie to Burton’s Pirelli Stadium, Sky Blues chief executive Dave Boddy has already said that moving more games “would not be feasible”.
“We simply want our landlords Wasps to provide a pitch which is safe and fit for purpose,” he said.
The situation is now being monitored by the EFL, who are already discussing the implications regarding City’s next scheduled home game – the visit of Huddersfield Town on Saturday, 20 August.
The EFL statement added: “The decision follows the commissioning of an independent report by an internationally established group of sports turf experts.
“The report confirmed there is no maintenance work possible that would make the pitch safe in time for Tuesday’s game. Playing on the surface in its existing state would pose a risk to players and match officials.
“The league will now consider the circumstances of both postponements before determining what course of action could be taken and will remain in regular dialogue with the club over the work required to make the pitch safe and playable as soon as is practically possible.”
City are only the tenants at the 32,000 capacity stadium, which has been owned by Wasps since the Premiership rugby club moved to the city in December 2014.
Concerns over the pitch ‘not addressed’ – Boddy
Wasps Group chief executive Stephen Vaughan said earlier in the week that City had previously been advised that they should switch their opening few home games of the season, as the pitch would never have been ready in time after such heavy use – and that the contract to host Commonwealth Games events at the stadium was signed before the Sky Blues committed to returning to the ground, in March 2021.
“They were fully aware of the timetable of events,” said Vaughan.
But Boddy said: “Even if we had been able to have our first three league games scheduled away, as requested by Wasps, which wasn’t possible due to the EFL fixture sequencing rules which apply equally to all clubs, it is clear that the pitch still would not have been playable.
“We are very disappointed to report the lack of improvement in the pitch. But, to be clear, this is not the fault of the groundstaff.
“Our concerns over the quality of the pitch have not been addressed. We were extremely disappointed to be told in June that Wasps had made the decision not to take any action to put a new surface in.”
Boddy and Vaughan met at the Arena on Monday, since when they have been in regular contact via email.
The background to the ongoing Arena issues
The stadium, which began life as the Ricoh Arena, was jointly owned by Arena Coventry Ltd, set up partially from a trust fund left by a Sky Blues fan when City first moved there in 2005 after the controversial sale of their previous home, Highfield Road, for housing development.
The Sky Blues then spent 14 months in exile at Sixfields, Northampton, following a dispute over rent, before returning to the city in September 2014.
Wasps became City’s landlords when they left their then home at High Wycombe to buy the ground, with financial help from Coventry City Council, in December 2014.
A further dispute with Wasps led to City playing in Birmingham at St Andrew’s for two seasons, before returning to Coventry last year.
Wasps have been under a financial strain, especially since the Covid pandemic, and in June requested millions of pounds of public money from the West Midlands Combined Authority.
But Wasps owner Derek Richardson told The Times on Friday that growing rumours that the club is set to go into administration are not true.
