Poor pitch means club game moved from Confed Cup final venue

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) The pitch for the Confederations Cup final is in such a poor state that a scheduled club game there next week has had to be relocated.

Large chunks of the newly installed grass at the St. Petersburg Stadium have been torn up in the two games played there so far.

As a result, World Cup organizers and club Zenit St. Petersburg have decided to move Wednesday's fixture between Zenit and FC Krasnodar in the Russian Premier League.

The game, the last scheduled there before the Confederations Cup, will now be held at Zenit's old Petrovsky stadium.

Zenit says the decision ''will allow organizers to completely prepare the St. Petersburg Stadium field'' for the Confederations Cup and ''will spare the young grass field extra strain.''

The 68,000-seat stadium will hold three Confederations Cup games in June and the final on July 2.