The Bird’s Nest in Beijing has refuted accusations about the poor condition of its pitch, which allegedly caused the sudden cancellation of a highly anticipated game.

“Our pitch is fine. It takes a more qualified third-party assessment to draw a conclusion of ‘poor pitch conditions’ and to judge whether the pitch is suitable for matches. It is only the clubs saying the pitch is poor, which is subjective, but we don’t think the pitch is the cause of the cancellation,” said He Miao, a manager for match operations at the Bird’s Nest, in a statement to Tencent News.

According to He, the Bird’s Nest began to lay out new grass for the game in early July. While admitting that this type of grass is usually planted in cooler climates, as it is somewhat vulnerable to insects and hot weather, He insisted that the condition of the pitch was not the reason for cancellation.

Given that it was to be the first game between Jose Mourinho and Pep Guardiola in the Premier League, the game between Manchester City and Manchester United was hotly ancticipated. Its cancellation on the afternoon of July 25 – just several hours before it was supposed to start – took many fans by surprise.

“The cancellation was made in the interest of player safety, and comes following extreme weather events in Beijing over a multiple-day period, that have left the playing surface in a condition deemed to be unfit for play,” said a joint statement from both teams and the match organizer. The statement also said that fans who had bought tickets were entitled to a refund.

Beijing has been hit by heavy rains in the past week, and several sections of grass on the pitch were saturated on the afternoon preceding the scheduled match, Global Times reported.

Head coaches for both teams expressed concerns over players’ safety due to the pitch condition during a press conference on July 24. In August 2009, Mourinho, then the head coach of Inter Milan, also complained about the pitch condition at the Bird’s Nest, according to Global Times.