It's official: Instead of playing on another pitch with more grass, The Lions will play all three of their Group B Asean Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup games at the Singapore Sports Hub, despite the field's condition, reported The Straits Times today.

The rest of the Group B matches will be played at Jalan Besar Stadium, which seats 8,000 spectators. Although the Jalan Besar pitch is an artificial one, it's not sandy.

Singapore, drawn in Group B, together with Thailand, Myanmar and Malaysia, is hosting the biennial football tournament with Vietnam. The tournament will run from Nov.23 to Dec. 20, 2014.

The field, which gave plenty of nightmares for Italian football team Juventus, Brazilian football team, Japanese football team, the All Blacks, Asia-Pacific Dragons, Jay Chou, Mariah Carey, Baihakki Khaizan, Khairul Amri..., is not growing as well as hoped and the tone of Schadenfreude among many Singaporeans is evident online.

Granted, the decision to play Singapore's matches at the 55,000 seater National Stadium - the largest stadium in Singapore - can generate more revenue for the organisers, it is however not conducive for the sport.

We are not sure if it's punishment or host nation's advantage. The group stage matches involving Singapore will be on Nov. 23, 26 and 29, 2014, which means a game every three days.

With a schedule as jam-packed as that, the Lions will be under the mercy of the pitch. The chances of injuries will rise exponentially as these are no friendly matches; teams will be going the extra mile to win a game. A careless tackle on a sandy pitch is indeed a cause for concern.

Why not play the group games at Jalan Besar and only shift the tournament back to the National Stadium in the semis and final?

This will give the pitch more time to recuperate and incentivise the Lions to do better in the group stage so as to earn a chance to play in the Grand Old Dame.

But alas, the decision seems to be final.

According to The Straits Times, AFF will bring in Japanese turf guru Hiroi Koichi to inspect the pitch tomorrow. Hopefully, the grass can grow out in time for the matches.

If not, let's hope the Kallang Wave will boost the Lions' morale instead.

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Top photo from here.

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