Although replaced at the start of the season, the Allianz Riviera pitch is once again in a very poor state, as Franck Haise lamented after Nice's victory against Rennes (3-2) on Friday.
New year but still an old problem on the side of OGC Nice. If he was rather smiling after his men's victory Friday against Stade Rennais (3-2), for the opening of the 16th day of Ligue 1, Franck Haise was less appreciative of the state of the pitch. Allianz Riviera. While the weather has been mild in recent weeks on the Côte d'Azur, with postcard weather for the end-of-year holidays, the terrain was clearly in a very poor state.
“Not worthy of a Ligue 1 club”
“I discovered that this morning when I arrived for the greening. It’s not a pitch worthy of a club like Nice and a Ligue 1 club, that’s all,” complained the Nice coach at the end of the meeting, in a press conference. “Both teams did pretty good things on this pitch… From a distance, when I arrived this morning, I said to myself: ‘well, it’s not bad’. But once there, it’s a disaster. That's it, but I didn't have an explanation and the club didn't have an explanation either. he lamented.
Attacked by a fungus during the summer, the pitch at the Allianz Riviera ended up being changed in September by the stadium operator, Nice Eco Stadium. In a letter dated August 16, 2024, made public on the 20th, the city of Nice had “put NES on notice (…) to assume its contractual obligations to provide an excellent lawn without any defect, worthy of a European club. Otherwise, it indicated that it reserved “the right to take all necessary actions”.
After a few weeks of controversy, and “a period of review of possible options”, Nice Eco Stadium decided to change the turf.
