The Eastern Conference Championship first leg on Tuesday night between Montreal Impact and Toronto FC was delayed 30 minutes due the penalty area being wrong measured.
The 18-yard box at the Olympic Stadium was actually a 16-yard box until spotted by the eagle-eyed referee.
Not something you see every day – match delayed because penalty box was painted too narrow. #MTLVTOR pic.twitter.com/tbY8158zob
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 23, 2016
The match, which was originally set to kick off at 8:08 pm ET, was pushed back to 8:40 pm ET to allow the boundaries to be repainted.
The one where nothing beats a fresh coat of paint! #MTLvTOR pic.twitter.com/sAtonNncxE
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) November 23, 2016
“Obviously, it’s the first time that it’s happened to us,” Montreal Impact owner Joey Saputo told ESPN’s Katie Witham. “We’ve been in situations like this before [at Olympic Stadium] where we have 61,000 fans. We had the [CONCACAF] Champions League final here.
“It’s the responsibility of the referees to check it out. Unfortunately the referees got here a little bit late whether it was traffic or traffic around the stadium. So it’s unfortunate, but we have to take the responsibility for it. It’s our fault and it’s unfortunate that this has happened.”
The game, when it eventually kicked off, was a thriller. Montreal raced into a three-goal lead, but they were pegged back in the second half when Toronto struck twice to emerge with a respectable 3-2 defeat. The second leg takes place in Toronto on Dec 1.
The victors will play the winners of the Western Conference play-off between Seattle Sounders and Colorado Rapids, with the Sounders holding a 2-1 aggregate lead from the first leg.
