The NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams scheduled for Monday had to move from its original site at Mexico City’s Estadio Azteca to the LA Memorial Coliseum, due to the field’s poor conditions.

The field of the Azteca stadium did not meet NFL standards for playability and consistency. The Azteca Stadium had its natural grass turf replaced in May for a hybrid field used in some of the most famous stadiums in the world such as the Camp Nou in Barcelona and the San Siro in Milan; the installation of the new surface was in completed by Costa Rican company Turf Managers Specialist.

A few weeks after the installation of the new turf the field presented problems which according to the Costa Rican company had to do with the excessive rain and the lack of a break from activity since it was installed.

After some maintenance work and a ten day break from activities, the turf recovered it’s vibrant color and the Stadium looked good; however, in the recent weeks, the weather conditions, several soccer matches, two Shakira concerts and other events organized in the Stadium by Televisa, owner of the venue, took a toll and left the turf in bad shape.

“The combination of a difficult rainy season and a heavy multi-event calendar of events at the stadium have resulted in significant damage to the field that presents unnecessary risks to player safety and makes it unsuitable to host an NFL game,” said Mark Waller, the NFL’s executive vice president of international.

Enio Cubillo, from Turf Managers Specialists had stated that the turf required daily maintenance. He assured that the communication with the Azteca Stadium and the company Tarkett which distributes the synthetic material, has been constant with the purpose of handling the problems in the best way possible, however, the conditions of the field depend on the daily maintenance it receives.