Meanwhile, The Other Football Gets Rained Out

While we have our eyes and ears on the international beat today, take a look at this story from The Hindu, the online edition of India's national newspaper:

CHENNAI: Non-stop rain from Saturday evening meant there was little possibility of the India-Lebanon round one World Cup football qualifier match taking place at the Nehru Stadium here on Sunday. As things stand with rains continuing to pelt the city, the match is being shifted to Goa.

FIFA rules stipulate that the Referee inspect the turf an hour before the scheduled start and inform his decision to the Match Commissioner. As though to confirm that play was not possible, the Referee took a ball with him and kicked it to see it float on the sheet of water.

Match commissioner Rendeni Gamini of Sri Lanka later said, “bad weather and poor ground conditions have made us decide that play was not possible and the match has been postponed to Monday for a 4 p.m. kick off. On Monday the Referee will inspect the pitch one hour before the scheduled start and indicate when the match can be conducted,” he said.