Two blunders added to Hong Kong Stadium pitch fiasco
Dumping of 30 tonnes of sand and installation of pumps to reduce the groundwater may have made poor playing surface worse, it is claimed
Two mistakes were made in efforts to repair the failing Hong Kong Stadium pitch in time for last week's Barclays Asia Trophy soccer matches that may actually have made it worse, the South China Morning Post has learned.
But an overseas consultant involved in the decisions insisted there were no other choices, given the poor condition of the overworked turf, which almost caused the high-profile matches to be cancelled.
A source close to the Leisure and Cultural Services Department and a local turf specialist said the errors were made in dumping a huge amount of sand on the boggy midfield and installing pumps in an effort to reduce groundwater.
The source said the department's New Zealand consultant, Alex Glasgow, instructed workers to fill the midfield with 30 tonnes of sand in pouring rain on Friday, raising the surface by 5cm.
"Instead of making the muddy pitch muddier by pouring 30 tonnes of sand onto it, they should have just left it and focused on spiking to let the grass breathe," the source said. The amount of sand was 50 per cent more than the 20 tonnes used in an average year, the source said.