Montreal owner 'somewhat embarrassed' after 18-yard box gaffe

Montreal Impact owner Joey Saputo called the error that forced the 18-yard boxes at Olympic Stadium to be repainted "unfortunate," saying he was "somewhat embarrassed" by the unusual mistake.

Related - Watch: Penalty areas at Olympic Stadium repainted after measurement error

The first leg of the Impact's Eastern Conference Final with bitter rival Toronto FC was delayed by over 30 minutes Tuesday as pre-match inspections found the two penalty areas were too small, forcing groundskeepers to repaint the lines minutes before the scheduled 8:00 p.m. ET kickoff.

"We're somewhat embarrassed. Obviously it's the first time it has happened to us. We've been in situations like this before, where we have 61,000 fans," Saputo told ESPN, per Kurtis Larson of the Toronto Sun.

"We had the Champions League final here. It's a responsibility of the referees to check it out. Unfortunately, the referees got here a little late - whether it was traffic or traffic around the stadium.

"We have to take full responsibility for it. It's our fault. It's unfortunate it has happened."