A rainy Sunday afternoon in the south of Ticino spoiled a football festival for FC Lugano and FC St.Gallen. Everyone involved understands why the match was abandoned - but nobody is really satisfied.
Even before kick-off at 2 p.m., it was pouring with rain in Lugano. The groundsmen use rollers to remove the standing water from the pitch. Just under an hour before kick-off, referee Mirel Turkes gives the go-ahead - the match can be played under normal conditions.
During the first half, the rainfall was limited - at the break, with the score at 1-0 to Lugano, the situation changed dramatically and the heavens opened their floodgates again. Turkes interrupted the game in the 48th minute and announced the definitive abandonment after around 20 minutes.
"The safety of the players was no longer guaranteed," says the 33-year-old in an interview with blue Sport. For this reason, the decision was made to abandon the match. The match would then be rescheduled and replayed after the national team break.
Nevertheless, very few are satisfied with the abandonment. "Both we and Lugano would have preferred to play on," said St.Gallen captain Lukas Görtler. "The pitch got worse with every minute - no chance."
The 31-year-old's sense of humor was not washed away by the rain: "When asked how the game would go on, I said: 'Normally it's always 3-0 to the away team'," Görtler tells blue Sport with a broad grin.
FC Lugano goalkeeper Amir Saipi, who was back in the starting eleven for the first time since August 31 and the arrival of David von Ballmoos (absent against St.Gallen due to injury), also took it with humor: "We can't change it. God decided that it would rain like this today." Thanks to the early finish, he was able to go home to his family in Schaffhausen earlier.
Lugano coach Mattia Croci-Torti was literally left standing in the rain as he watched referee Turkes inspect the pitch during the interruption. As the Ticino native revealed in an interview with blue Sport, he was initially surprised that the game had been abandoned.
"I've played a lot of football in Switzerland and we've certainly played in worse situations than in the first minute of the second half. My friend Montandon (blue Sport expert Philippe Montandon, ed.) and I have certainly played on worse pitches than the one we played on today."
Nevertheless, the 43-year-old from Ticino understands referee Turkes' decision in the end. "It's just a shame, because my team was already ready to win in the first half."
