By Graeme Yorke
|
Tottenham's clash against Manchester United will go ahead despite heavy snow in London throughout the day.
Referee Chris Foy inspected the pitch little over an hour before the kick-off and deemed the turf fit for purpose at White Hart Lane.
There had been fears that the game would have to be postponed after steady downfall in north London throughout the day, but after a final check from Foy and some hard work from staff at Spurs, Sunday's late kick-off will be played out.
Overtime: Workers at White Hart Lane shovelled snow off the pitch
Wrapped up: Benoit Assou-Ekotto covers his face with a snood in Tottenham's training session on Friday
Later: Tottenham are still likely to host Manchester United at 4.00pm this afternoon
Spurs had tweeted earlier this afternoon: 'There will be a pitch inspection by the referee at 2:50pm. We will have a further update for you as soon as possible after that time.'
Ground staff have been working hard to keep the pitch clear, but the club had earlier announced that if the weather worsened, they could have been forced to cancel the match.
A statement on Tottenham's website, published at 12.23pm, read: 'Today's match against Manchester United remains on at this point in time.
'However the situation is being monitored and much will depend on whether or not there is any substantial snow before kick off at 4pm.
'We'll keep fans informed of any further updates via our usual channels.'
There were also fears that Chelsea's match against Arsenal would be cancelled, however the 1.30pm match went ahead.
Tottenham posted on Twitter earlier in the day: 'We're getting a lot of tweets asking if the match is on. We'll let you know of any changes as soon as we can. It is on at the moment (10am)'
Transport for London also said that the games appear to be going ahead when they posted an update this morning.
TfL posted: 'At present all London football matches are going ahead. Chelsea v Arsenal and Tottenham v Man U. Allow extra time to travel due to weather.'
Ready: Rafa Benitez was preparing his palyers for action in the snow on Friday
Cheeky: Ashley Cole seized the chance to pick up a snowball
Getting his eye in: Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain kicks up some snow on Friday
On: Chelsea's match against Arsenal at Stamford Bridge will go ahead
Watch out for two footed challenges !!! lol Well youve all been very vocal about Van Persie lets see how todays game goes and lets hope for a none controversial game !!!
- Jamie Millar , manchester, United Kingdom, 20/1/2013 15:36
Report abuse