Montenegro will welcome Lithuania in the 2nd round of the Nations League and will have to chase for the win.
It is almost unrealistic that the field of the only stadium in Montenegro that meets the criteria of UEFA for matches of the "A" team has been transformed in a short time.
After the reconstruction three years ago, when, besides the new lawn, a complete drainage system was installed, the City Stadium in Podgorica was one of the best in the region.
The image that will go on air throughout Europe Monday will recall, however, everything that the stadium in Podgorica represented more than 15 years ago when it was one of the worst in the former country when it was bumpy and would turn into mud on rainy days.
The torn up surface and places where there is no grass, especially around the goal under the southern stands, gives the impression it is a regional field, and not a stadium where the qualifying matches of a big competition should be played.
The maintenance and servicing of the stadium under Gorica and the grassy surface is under the jurisdiction of the company "Sportski objekti" d.o.o. which manages a complex of sports facilities in Podgorica. In addition to the stadium under Gorica, the company manages the Morača Sports Center with city pools, the Small Sports Stadium, the Tuzi Stadium and the "Ljubović" Shooting Center.
The rough terrain was clear to everyone last week during Budućnost-Petrovac match when everyone at the game was perplexed by the “quality” of a recently perfect pitch.
Even during the routine control of Uefa last month, it was discovered that something was wrong with the field and that it was a combination of several factors - heat, inadequate maintenance, and many games when the grass had to "stand still.
"In addition to club matches in the qualifications for the European competitions and matches of Buducnost in the domestic championship, three qualifying matches of the Women's Champions League, hosted by Breznica, were played in Gorica in August. However, the heat in Podgorica happens every summer, and every July and August our clubs play Europe - that is why the question is whether humans dominantly influenced the desperate state of the pitch? The problem is not only tomorrow's match against Lithuania but also the match against Serbia on October 11th in the Nations League - will the field be recovered in just a month?
It has long been known that Montenegro does not have an adequate stadium for games of the highest level, but don't they need it?
Text by Danilo Mitrovic, on September 9th, 2018, read more at Vijesti
