Saturday evening's NWSL match between Western New York Flash and Seattle Reign has drawn heavy criticism from players and supporters alike after the game took place on a frankly ridiculously narrow pitch.
The Flash usually play their home matches at Sahlen's Stadium, though a music festival forced them to switch to Frontier Field in New York, home of the Rochester Red Wings minor league baseball team.
Unfortunately, due to the mechanics involved, the pitch marked out for the NWSL tie only measured 58 yards across -- the league minimum width being 70 yards.
This led to the bizarre image of two teams battling it out on a field that looked more suited for use as an allotment.
De dames van Western New York Flash moesten uitwijken, maar het andere veld was iets te klein... (via @JeffKassouf) pic.twitter.com/ISGQizwYbY
- FCUpdate.nl (@FCUpdate_nl) July 10, 2016
Unsurprisingly, it wasn't long before several of the biggest names in the womens' game began to tweet their feelings on the matter.
It's not about winning or losing ... It's about Respect. Tonight there was non & that's a Shame from such a good League.
- Jessica Fishlock (@JessFishlock) July 10, 2016
I joked earlier but this field is unacceptable. @NSWL @JeffPlush are you watching this? Why would you allow this?
- Megan Rapinoe (@mPinoe) July 10, 2016
NWSL Commissioner Jeff Plush issued a statement after the match to confirm that, in hindsight, the league made the wrong call to host the match on a completely inadequate pitch.
"As a professional league, we need to ensure that the integrity of the game is always respected both on and off the field," Plush said.
"We did not do that tonight and we apologize to the NWSL players, coaches and fans."
For the record, the Flash ended up winning the match 3-2 -- a narrow victory in more than one sense.