On Tuesday, Taiwan’s womens team were supposed to be playing their first home game in five years but instead the game was called off at the last minute. The cancellation occurred after the New Zealand FA (NZF) made it clear that the game could not take place ‘due to safety concerns over the pitch‘.
The debacle is embarrassing for the Chinese Taipei FA and a disappointment to fans who had already bought tickets for the aborted Tuesday game. In the aftermath of the decision, news emerged that field conditions were an ongoing concern for the New Zealanders from the moment they arrived.
Having already postponed a behind-closed-doors scrimmage game on Saturday, when it became clear that the CTFA could not improve the field conditions to the requirements of the visiting team, the game was cancelled.
The issue appears to be over-use of the limited football fields available to teams within Taiwan. There are only a handful of international-level grass fields available within the island and the NZF were unclearly unhappy with the conditions of the pitches waiting for them in Kaohsiung. According to local Taiwanese media, the Nanzhi Stadium had been used almost every day in March. By the time the NZ womens team got there, the field was presumably unsuitable for an international football game.
Taiwan currently has two major stadiums, the National Stadium in Kaohsiung and the Taipei Municipal Stadium. Both are technically under renovation right now, although the National Stadium was made available for the mens team for their game against Turkmenistan at the last minute. As a result, much smaller Nanzhi is currently the only usable high-level facility for soccer in entire island.
Photo credit: Kaohsiung Nanzih Football Stadium Facebook page
Email: formosafootballblog@gmail.com 
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8 responses to “Womens Game Cancelled Amid Facility Issues”
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