By Andrew Warshaw
February 10 – Portuguese football authorities say they had no choice but to call off Sunday’s hotly anticipated Lisbon derby between arch-rivals Benfica and Sporting in order to “avoid a tragedy” after strong winds caused part of the roof to collapse.
The teams had already been announced when 60,000 fans were told the match would be delayed as wind blew debris and rubbish across the pitch. The game was postponed soon afterwards and rescheduled for tomorrow (Tuesday).
“There were small pieces of glass which had come off the roof,” Mario Figueiredo, President of the Portuguese Football League, told a news conference at the Stadium of Light. “An emergency meeting was held around 15 minutes before the kick-off and we asked the civil defence if the game could go ahead. They said it couldn’t and told us to evacuate the stadium as quickly as possible.
“Fortunately this measure was decided in good time because shortly afterwards the pieces [of the roof] started to fall. A tragedy was avoided. We had to take this drastic decision.”
The iconic stadium was rebuilt for Euro 2004 and UEFA will take particular note of Sunday’s incident since this season’s Champions League final is due to take place at the venue.
The clash of the city rivals was one of the most eagerly awaited fixture of the seasons, with a three-way race for the title between them both and Porto. It had been raining all day in the Portuguese capital and soon after the postponement was announced, a metal sheet also fell into an area where supporters would have been.
Sporting’s official supporters club said it was unhappy with the way the evacuation was carried out, however. “The Sporting fans were only allowed to leave the stadium around one hour after it was announced the game had been postponed,” they said in a statement. “The fans were kept in a sporting arena that was not safe enough to stage the match.”
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