Minaj concert boots Digicel qualifiers.
The staging of a concert featuring T&T-born American female rap star Nicki Minaj on Saturday at the recently refurbished Hasely Crawford Stadium, Mucurapo, has forced the cancellation of three scheduled sporting events at the same venue over the next five days.
The concert dubbed “Localize Itt” is being part sponsored by the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs and was originally scheduled for the Queen’s Park Oval, Tragerete Road, Port-of-Spain, but has since been switched to the Mucurapo Road venue.
The switch has caused the Queen’s Park CC/FF Crew Masters Football Tournament (Friday, Saturday & Sunday), the national BG T&T Secondary Schools Football League final (Friday) and Digicel Cup qualifier (Tuesday) all to be relocated. In a release from promoters for the event, D Project Records, Chief Executive Officer, Daryl Braxton said the original venue “could not accommodate all of the desired specifications.”
He said: “We had concerns about parking at the Oval and the flow of traffic before and after the event, plus we were not able to section off the Oval as much as we needed in order to facilitate the MTV taping, so we had no choice but to move it to the stadium.”
Contacted for comment, Anil Roberts, Minister of Sport and Youth Affairs said the switch was also due to the overwhelming response to ticket sales. “We apologise for any inconvenience which we may have caused but we intend to maximise the use of the venue for both sport and culture.”
Asked if consideration was given to the damage of the playing surface which may affect the Soca Warriors who are due to host international matches at the same venue next week, Roberts said all measures were being taken to ensure the field was well covered.
“We are working side by side with the show promoters to ensure that the proper protective flooring is sourced so that little harm is done to the field.” With regards to T&T’s hosting of the Digicel Caribbean Cup qualifiers from Tuesday, Roberts said only the first day of matches (Tuesday) will not be played at the venue.
“The Mannie Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella, will be used for the opening double-header but the other matches will resume at the Hasely Crawford Stadium from Thursday and then on Sunday, said a confident Roberts.
However, a release by the T&TFF said a decision was taken by the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) to change the venue of Tuesday’s opening matches after stadium management deemed the surface unsuitable for playing.
The release stated the venue management requested time off to conduct maintenance on the field. According to the release, the CFU will make a final decision on venues for matches after Tuesday’s games in due course.
Speaking on the decision to play the opening double-header at Marabella, Soca Warriors manager, David Muhammad said his team was preparing to play its matches at the Hasely Crawford Stadium before there was a change in consideration of the venue following a site visit by the organisers.
“We are however now pleased that the intervention from the Sports Minister Anil Roberts will at least allow us to play the other two matches at the Hasely Crawford Stadium which is our number one choice venue for international football,” said Muhammad.
The BG T&T Secondary Schools Football League national Big-Five final between five-time winner and defending champions, St Augustine East Secondary and two-time winner, St Anthony’s College was also carded for the venue tomorrow (Friday) but has also been shifted to Malabar.
Roberts said: “We have given them (SSFL) the option of the Manny Ramjohn Stadium, Marabella; Ato Boldon Stadium, Couva; and Larry Gomes Stadium, Malabar.”
The Masters competition has already been shifted to the Couva venue, meaning the only venues left for the SSFL match are Marabella and Malabar, with the latter the most likely choice.
The moved by the Ministry of Sports comes less than two months after Government spent $25 million on the upgrading of the national stadias ahead of the Fifa Under-17 Women’s World Cup held in September. It also reverses the decision of the former PNM Government under Sports Minister Gary Hunt which outlawed the use of such venues for concerts and cultural events.
Roberts said the People’s Partnership believes that sports, culture and entertainment “are intrinsically linked and these brilliant spaces, which were built at tremendous cost to tax-payers cannot sustain themselves on sporting revenue alone.”
Roberts said the stadium will not only be used for the Localize Itt concert, but there are bookings for steelpan, calypso, tassa and chutney shows well into the new year and Carnival season.
“These facilities were made to be utilized by the people and we are ensuring that our sporting facilities are properly maintained with the best, high-quality coverings, so that there’s no damage to these surfaces.”