Torrential rain falls in the Azores and floods the São Miguel Stadium pitch; match for the quarterfinals of the Portuguese Cup has no date to restart
7 fev
2024
– 14h31
(updated at 4:10 p.m.)
Photo: Video reproduction twitter @sporttvportugal – Caption: Rain makes referee Gustavo Correia interrupt the game for the Portuguese Cup / Jogada10
The Santa Clara x Porto match, for the quarter-finals of the Portuguese Cup, was interrupted, 27 minutes into the first half, due to rain and bad weather. The teams faced each other, this Wednesday (7), at the São Miguel Stadium, on the Island of São Miguel. Torrential rain, fog, cold and risk of injury were the reasons for referee Gustavo Correia to suspend the game.
Half an hour after the stoppage, the referee returned to the pitch in the company of his assistants and the match delegate. They remained on the pitch for a few moments and announced that the match was suspended. Thus, in a statement, the Portuguese Football Federation announced that the match “will resume between the 27th, 28th or 29th of February, dates for which matches in the competition were already planned”.
Rain, cold and low fog hampered the start of the match. The Santa Clara team, before the match started, asked for the game to be postponed. The Porto board, however, did not agree. At 20 minutes, the FC Porto bench called for an interruption as there were no conditions for the ball to roll. The match continued, but the players complained a lot about the state of the pitch.
Employees try to drain water
The intense rain thus hampered performance. In the 27th minute, however, referee Gustavo Correia stopped the game to check whether the ball would run smoothly. He interrupted the match until the situation was resolved. Many fans began to leave the São Miguel stadium. Some ball boys started to play on the muddy lawn.
Stadium employees went to the pitch with squeegees to try, in vain, to remove the water from the playing field. The drainage system did not allow for the amount of water. The players left and thanked the small audience that remained in the stands.
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