WCup venue faces March review after quake

by Chris Foley

RUGBY: CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand, Feb 26 (AFP) - Operators of Christchurch's rugby stadium said Friday they would decide in mid-March whether World Cup matches can go ahead at the venue after an earthquake convulsed the city.

The September-October rugby showcase is the largest event ever staged in New Zealand, and would face major logistical problems if the disaster meant no matches could be staged in the country's second biggest city.

Venue manager Vbase said experts would need until March 15 to determine if AMI Stadium can host World Cup matches following Tuesday's 6.3 magnitude quake, which has claimed at least 113 lives.

The stadium's structure suffered only minor damage in the tremor, Vbase chief executive Bryan Pearson said, but the surrounding area was badly affected and the condition of infrastructure servicing the venue was unknown. He said another problem was "liquefaction" on the playing field - which is caused when a seismic tremor loosens the bonds between soil particles, turning the ground into a quagmire. "We've got minor repairable structural damage, substantial damage to the surrounding streets and likely to services infrastructure," Pearson told AFP.

"We've also got liquefaction inside the stadium including on the playing surface. We've closed the venue until March 15 and that will enable us to make the full assessment." Prime Minister John Key said earlier this week that Christchurch also faced a shortage of hotel accommodation after the tremor destroyed areas of the central business district and he had asked officials to search for solutions.

But Key also said that if World Cup matches proceeded in Christchurch as planned, it would be a powerful symbol of the city's resilience after enduring two major earthquakes in six months.

The venue is scheduled to host seven games, including two quarter-finals, during the World Cup beginning September 9, with organisers planning to boost its capacity to 45,000 with temporary seating for the tournament.

AMI Stadium emerged from a 7.0 magnitude quake that hit Christchurch last September with only minor damage and tournament managers were able to quickly rule out any impact on the World Cup.But the latest tremor's impact on the city as a whole has been far worse, and the stadium sits just two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the worst-hit downtown area. Christchurch does not have an alternative stadium which could stage matches, and moving them to other cities such as Wellington or Auckland would create a scheduling logjam. Rugby New Zealand 2011, which is responsible for running the event, said Friday it was unable to comment on the quake's impact on the stadium. But chief executive Martin Snedden had previously dismissed speculation some matches could be transferred across the Tasman to Australia, which hosted the tournament in 2003 and has an abundance of large stadiums.