NFL cancels trip to Mexico City and moves Chiefs-Rams to L.A. for Monday night



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The NFL has decided to move Monday's game between the Chiefs and the Mexico Rams in Los Angeles due to poor playing conditions at the Estadio Azteca, was announced on Tuesday.

The players had strongly considered not playing if the NFL had chosen to play in Mexico City, sources told Adam Schefter of ESPN on Tuesday. The problem is that football games and concerts have left the pitch at Azteca Estadio in disarray.

"It's not fair to risk our health," said a prominent player at Schefter on Tuesday.

Rams Security John Johnson saw the current social conditions in Mexico City on social media and tweeted his reaction.

The highly anticipated 9-1 team game will be Monday Night Football at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Information about the tickets and other details will be available soon, while the game refund policy in Mexico will be announced in the coming days.

The NFL has put in place a procedure whereby all teams who give up a home game to play abroad are required to keep their home stadium available as a forethought.

In a statement, the league said it had consulted the NFLPA – as well as club field experts as well as local and independent external experts – before making the decision to move the game because Estadio Azteca's pitch was no longer needed. Was not in compliance with NFL standards. for playability and consistency.

"We have worked extensively with our partners at Estadio Azteca for months to prepare for this match," said Mark Waller, NFL executive vice president for the international, in a statement. "Until recently, we had no major concerns.However, the combination of a difficult rainy season and a busy schedule of multiple events in the stadium has resulted in significant damage to the field, which poses unnecessary risks to player safety and makes it inappropriate to host an NFL game.

"As a result, we determined that moving the game was the right decision and that we had to announce it now to allow our teams and fans to make alternative arrangements."

Teams were seen pitching turf at Estadio Azteca on Tuesday, but the NFL, after a field inspection Tuesday afternoon, said the playing area would not meet NFL standards. here next monday.

The Rams left Monday for Colorado Springs to train at high altitude for a week before traveling to Mexico City, where the altitude is about 7,300 feet. The team will return to Los Angeles on Saturday.

According to Jeff Sherman of the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, the Rams would go from favorites to 2.5 points at -3.5 or -4. Sherman also stated that all bets made for the game played in Mexico City would be refunded, as SuperBook matches must be played in the "designated city / geographical area with 8 days of the scheduled date".

ESPN's Lindsey Thiry, Alden Gonzalez, Ben Fawkes and Darren Rovell contributed to this report.

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