FIFA has backed the decision to complete Sunday morning’s (AEDT) Club World Cup quarter-final between Western Sydney Wanderers FC and Cruz Azul despite the deplorable conditions in Rabat.
The Wanderers were left seething after they went down 3-1 to the Mexicans after some costly refereeing mistakes and the dismissals of Matthew Spiranovic and Nikolai Topor-Stanley.
Result: Western Sydney Wanderers FC 1 Cruz Azul 3 (after extra-time)
The woeful state of the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium pitch was also a huge concern after torrential rain made the surface close to unplayable.
A number of puddles formed on the pitch throughout the match, making passing difficult and dribbling close to impossible.
“Over the last months, international experts supported the groundskeepers and a special cover was installed to protect the pitch from rainfalls,” A FIFA spokesman said.
“Furthermore, no official training took place in the stadium which is normally possible for the teams before their first match in the stadium. With these measures, we reached a decent quality for the FIFA Club World Cup.
