It looks as though organizers found a short-term solution and resorted to spray painting the unsightly pitch in Manaus just days before the stadium hosts England and Italy during their opening match of the World Cup.
This chap busy spraying the brown patches of the Manaus pitch ... Fertiliser? Paint? Hard to tell from the stands pic.twitter.com/HOcBYpKrWB
— Sam Wallace (@SamWallaceIndy) June 12, 2014
Think the Manaus pitch looks poor? Not to worry. They're spray-painting it. For realz. pic.twitter.com/Jl5CVK1dFM
— Jerrad Peters (@jerradpeters) June 12, 2014
No official announcement has been made as to what exactly is being sprayed on the pitch, but the first picture appears to show an improvement to the images released in the last couple days. If the spray paint allegations are true, this incident will represent yet another black-eye for Brazilian organizers.
Maybe they needed eight years instead of seven to prepare?
Here's the image that will force both teams to apply extra tape to their ankles:
This is the state of the pitch in Manaus. England will face Italy here on Saturday. pic.twitter.com/c9qlljvauK
— 2014 World Cup (@2014WC_Brazil) June 12, 2014