NFL field director says he’s confident Rio stadium surface will be in good shape for Ravens-Cowboys

SAO PAULO (AP) — The field at Maracana Stadium has been hit by unusually heavy rainfall over the past six weeks, but the NFL’s field director expressed confidence it will be in good shape Sunday when the Baltimore Ravens and the Dallas Cowboys play the league’s first game in Rio de Janeiro.

The NFL had a crew on site Monday to begin preparing the stadium for the game, one of a record nine international contests on the NFL schedule this season.

“They’ve faced some unprecedented weather over the last six weeks or so as far as rainfall goes,” Nick Pappas, the NFL’s field director, told The Associated Press from Rio. “We’ve got to have plans in place to ensure that you can mitigate the weather the best you can and, right now, we feel we’re in a good spot.”

Pappas said the NFL had shipped a tarp to Rio about a week ago to help protect the turf. He said one of the “bigger lifts of the week” would be converting Maracana so it would be ready for American football.

The condition of the fields at international venues is often a subject of debate, and sometimes criticism, when the NFL goes abroad. Maracana has gotten particular attention in recent days after soccer players criticized the turf, saying they have struggled to control the ball due to its poor conditions.

The 78,000-seat stadium regularly hosts soccer teams Flamengo and Fluminense, averaging two games a week. The heavy schedule combined with relentless downpours has strained the natural grass surface.

Flamengo midfielder Giorgian de Arrascaeta said after his match on Sunday, only hours before the NFL took over the stadium, that the Maracana pitch “keeps getting worse.”

“With the team we have, we can’t be playing on a field like this,” the Uruguayan player said.

Pappas said some of the recent concerns don’t apply since soccer and American football are so different.

“Our ball is not on the ground too much, so some of the things they’re looking for (are) maybe not the same things that we’re looking at,” he said.

The game will be the NFL’s third in Brazil, though the previous two were at Sao Paulo’s Neo Quimica Arena, where the turf was also criticized.

Ravens coach Jesse Minter said the team has been in contact with the league about the stadium.

“They have people there (who) feel pretty good about it,” he said Monday. “Both teams are going to be playing there, and we will be ready to roll.”

The Ravens and Cowboys are scheduled to travel on Thursday and will practice in Rio on Friday.

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Maaddi reported from Tampa, Florida. AP Sports Writer Noah Trister contributed from Baltimore.

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