Aloha Stadium opens for inspection after canceled soccer game
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Small pebbles are visible through the turf at Aloha Stadium, Friday, Dec. 11, 2015, in Honolulu. The U.S. women’s soccer team canceled an exhibition game at the stadium saying the turf was inadequate. Stadium officials say the field is safe and they have had no previous issues with the turf.
Aloha Stadium officials have opened their doors to the media to show the condition of the Honolulu playing field that became the center of a dispute when the U.S. women’s soccer team abruptly canceled a game citing poor turf conditions.
The exhibition game was part of a 10-city tour following the team’s victory in the Women’s World Cup this past summer and was scheduled to be played last Sunday. But the U.S. Soccer Federation canceled the game Saturday night, saying the stadium’s field was unsafe and unplayable. Stadium officials countered that the turf is only four years old, still under warranty and hasn’t had any issues.
Joshua Wisch, spokesman for the Hawaii Attorney General, said he opened the stadium Friday after several media requests. The only changes that were made on the field since the canceled game included putting up goal posts, taking down signs and re-striping the turf, he said.
Seams were visible in parts of the field.
The U.S. team had collectively issued a statement Sunday saying there were sharp rocks ingrained all over the field and that the turf was low-grade and aging.
Tourism officials in Hawaii are concerned about the impact the canceled game may have on Hawaii’s ability to attract major sporting events in the future.
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“It’s not good, from a sports perspective. … We took several steps back with this one,” said Mufi Hannemann, president and CEO of the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association. “The NFL for years has expressed dissatisfaction with the stadium … but we always headed it off in the past.”
The canceled game is now the subject of legal action. Lawyers in Hawaii filed a class-action lawsuit to recover the money fans spent on airfare, hotels and other expenses. The 16,000 fans who bought tickets to the game will be refunded.
11 responses to “Aloha Stadium opens for inspection after canceled soccer game”
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Rest assure that the Aloha Stadium is A-OK for the flea market, only?
So now we hear that even the NFL was dissatisfied with the field conditions. The Aloha Stadium people said that the NFL had no problem with the field conditions. Somebody is lying here. Those pebbles are not the rubber fillers but look more like rocks.
I wouldn’t play on that either. Who wants a rock stuck in your knee? Not so smart whoever opened this up to the media. Another state blunder. Probably just made the case for US soccer.
Guess the people that’s running the stadium is not doing their job. The lawsuit going back fire to the state for not keeping the field in condition which caused the game to be cancelled.
The more we get bogged down in the current mindset the less effective we will be in dealing with this problem. Yes, it’s a problem, that we need to fix. And it would certainly be helpful if we handle this in as much a positive manner as we can. In the end, all the world will care about is, did you fix it?
We can build a world class stadium for about a billion dollars.
The recently built Dallas Cowboy stadium cost $1 billion. Think about what kind of stadium we could build with $5 billion (6 billion less fed subsidies) instead of wasting on rail. As every current public transit user knows, the westside express bus system is being replaced by a rail system that takes twice as long in total travel time and costs significantly more in fares.
i would not like to play on that field without pads and skin protection from uniforms that football players use.
These “rocks and pebbles” are rubber pellets or crumbs, part of the cushioning design of the turf. They are made of pulverized old tires and make up the top layer of the field. The picture and caption above the article make it seem like the pebbles shouldn’t be there.
There is recent concern those rubber crumbs are causing cancer in athletes who spend a lot time playing on artificial turf. Now I wonder if that was the hidden concern that nixed the soccer game.
At last the local media focuses on the REAL story– the actual condition of the field. I notice we in Hawaii tend to dance around the issues for very controversial stories. It may be a local thing, but journalists owe it to the public to put that aside and ask the tough questions.