Cardiff Metropolis have defended their pest management coverage after a rat halted play through the second half of Wales's World Cup qualifier in opposition to Belgium.
The Actual Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois made an unsuccessful try and catch the rodent throughout Belgium's 4-2 win on Monday evening earlier than the Wales participant Brennan Johnson ushered the rat off the Cardiff Metropolis Stadium pitch. The rat then slipped previous a ball boy and disappeared behind the referee evaluate monitor and was not seen once more.
“It's one thing I've not seen in my 36 years at Cardiff Metropolis,” mentioned Wayne Nash, the membership's head of operations who additionally works as a safety supervisor for the Soccer Affiliation of Wales and Uefa. “We've had a stray canine on the pitch however this was one thing new, a freak of nature.
“The stadium is near allotments and railway sidings and we all know rats could be problematic. The railway bankings could be infested with rats. We all know they're within the space and we do have the odd sighting of them. However we work intently with our pest management companions and do every little thing we will to maintain them away.”
Rat bait stations are in operation on the stadium and the membership say stringent cleansing insurance policies are adopted. Nash mentioned: “We decide up litter and meals like half-eaten burgers straight after video games. Every little thing is put away.
after e-newsletter promotion
“They are saying you're by no means too removed from a rat, particularly in cities, and this one managed to get in. Folks have seen a rat on the pitch as fairly humorous, nevertheless it does have critical undertones. If I used to be the ball boy or Brennan Johnson I'd have run a mile.”
