Coventry City have seen a third home game postponed in the space of just ten days.
The Championship outfit have announced that their proposed league meeting with Wigan Athletic, planned for this coming Tuesday (August 16), has been shelved. It comes amid increasing concerns as to the state of the pitch at the Coventry Building Society Arena, which was used extensively for rugby games at the recent Commonwealth Games.
The impact on the turf has been evident from pictures on social media and has now resulted in another game being called off. It follows the postponement of last Sunday's league game with Rotherham and the midweek Carabao Cup tie with Bristol City being moved to Burton Albion.
An EFL statement released on Saturday said: "Coventry City’s Sky Bet Championship fixture against Wigan Athletic on Tuesday 16 August 2022 has been postponed by the EFL due to ongoing issues with the playing surface at the Coventry Building Society (CBS) Arena. The decision follows the commissioning of an independent report by an internationally established group of sports turf experts to fully examine the current condition of the pitch.
"After a full and thorough evaluation, the League has been advised that playing on the surface in its existing state would pose a risk to players and match officials.
"In addition, the report confirmed that there is no maintenance work possible that would make the pitch safe in time for Tuesday’s game. Last weekend, the Club’s opening home fixture of the season against Rotherham United was also postponed because of the pitch issues and the Carabao Cup Round One tie versus Bristol City moved to Burton Albion’s Pirelli Stadium.
"Discussions remain ongoing in respect of the Club’s home game against Huddersfield Town on Saturday 20 August. The League will now consider the circumstances of both postponements before determining what course of action could be taken in accordance with the Regulations and will also remain in regular dialogue with the Club over the work required to make the pitch safe and playable as soon as is practically possible."
Sky Blues' chief executive Dave Boddy has already said that moving more games "would not be feasible".
"We simply want our landlords Wasps (rugby club) to provide a pitch which is safe and fit for purpose," he said. Earlier this week, Wasps Group chief executive Stephen Vaughan said Coventry had been advised that they should switch their opening home games of the season to give the pitch enough time to recover from the busy Commonwealth schedule.
Boddy replied, telling the BBC : "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."
