THE Fiji Football Association is not ruling out the possibility of shifting the Vodafone Fiji FACT to an alternative venue, if rain continued in Nausori this weekend.
This after yesterday's matches were postponed to today following the swamping of Ratu Cakobau Park.
Continuous heavy rain in the past two days had taken the toll on the ground, which has been facing a poor draining system for the past several years. The opening day of the second round matches on Thursday added to the misery and further deteriorated the ground, leaving it in a muddy condition.
Fiji FA chief executive officer Bob Kumar said they assessed the ground thoroughly before deciding to postpone the matches.
"We came to the ground, we assessed the ground situation and the continuous rain and also the weather forecast for more rain today (yesterday) forced us to postpone the games," Kumar said. "We have looked at the ground conditions and we have realised that if the rain continued, we will not be able to play more than one game at the ground." Kumar said they would have another assessment today before giving the green lights for the games to go on.
He said they could not at this stage whether to shift the tournament to an alternative venue. Kumar said it all depended on the review of the situation today. He also said the teams had accepted Fiji FA's decision.
"Yesterday (on Thursday) the tournament had started and it started raining as well. The ground was waterlogged but after 50 minutes of deferment, the water cleared off and the game continued," he said.
"It was not as muddy but the game played afterwards caused the muddiness in there.
"They (the Nausori Town Council workers) have been working since this morning (yesterday) but with more rain coming in, it will not help." The patrons holding on to yesterday's ticket can use that to watch the games today.
Fixtures (scheduled for today) - 1.30pm Navua - Tavua (P1), 3.00pm Nadi - Savusavu (P2), 4.30pm Suva - Lautoka (P2), 5.45pm Nadroga - Navua (P1), 7.00pm Ba - Labasa (P1), 8.15pm Rewa - Nadi (P2).