Cape Town City will return to Newlands rugby stadium for their Premiership showdown with Kaizer Chiefs next week.
The Cape club made the official announcement on their social media channels on Wednesday evening following a pitch inspection at the Cape Town Stadium earlier in the day.
City were expecting to make the announcement on Thursday morning, but were beaten to the punch by the City of Cape Town.
The Cape Town Stadium chief executive Lesley de Reuck said in a statement on Wednesday that the pitch had failed a test of its readiness for a professional football match.
The saga has seen two of City’s earlier matches, against Stellenbosch FC and Polokwane City, moved to Athlone Stadium and Newlands respectively.
Benni McCarthy’s team had mixed results in each match away from their regular home ground, beating Stellenbosch 1-0 in the league and then losing 2-0 to Polokwane in the MTN8.
“Cape Town City will play their #AbsaPrem match vs Kaizer Chiefs at the DHL Newlands Stadium on Tuesday, 27 August (7.30pm kickoff),” the club confirmed on their Twitter account.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/AbsaPrem?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AbsaPremmatch vs Kaizer Chiefs at the DHL Newlands Stadium on Tuesday, 27 August 🏟 #iamCityFC pic.twitter.com/hJsrGI4KTw
— Cape Town City FC (@CapeTownCityFC)
De Reuck said in a statement: “We are immensely disappointed with this situation as we have worked tirelessly to ensure the pitch is up to standard.
“Unfortunately, the improved weather conditions has come in too late to have the desired impact that was needed.
“We are most distraught for the fans of both teams who had expected to watch this top-flight match played at the Cape Town Stadium.
“We sincerely apologise to everybody that this has affected. Rest assured that we will continue in our efforts to have the pitch brought up to Fifa standards.”
Previously, De Reuck had said that heavy rains in July had affected the growth of the grass, which Cape Town City chairman John Comitis had slammed due to a number of non-sporting events that had been held prior to the Premiership season.
@ashfakmohamed