Morocco suspends three officials for stadium drainage failure

Three high-ranking Moroccan sports officials have been suspended pending investigation following the disastrous state of the Prince Moulay Abdellah stadium after torrential rain led to the pitch getting waterlogged during a quarter-final of the FIFA Club World Cup football competition here.

General secretary of the Moroccan Ministry of Sports Karim Akkari, director of sports in the ministry Mostapha Azeroual and director of the stadium Said Izka were suspended and an investigation launched Monday concerning the state of the stadium which the authorities recently renovated to hold the tournament, reports Xinhua.

The initial investigation showed that the company in charge of the stadium's construction cut corners when designing the field's drainage system.

The company did not construct the necessary drainage system for the stadium, resulting its near flooding during a match Saturday.

FIFA has since switched all the remaining matches to Marrakech citing "difficult pitch conditions" of the stadium here following the conclusion of the quarter-final match between Cruz Azul and Western Sydney Wanderers Saturday.