Free buses for Wales fans after Montenegro venue change

Podgorica National Stadium, pictured before its pitch issues, has been Montenegro's home since they played their first international in 2007

Wales fans affected by the switch of venues for their team's Nations League game in Montenegro next month have been told they will have free bus travel to the game.

The match on Monday, 9 September has been moved to Niksic's City Stadium because of the poor condition of the pitch at the Podgorica National Stadium.

The venue was changed after Uefa inspectors visited Podgorica last weekend.

The Football Association of Wales (FAW) confirmed "free coach travel will be provided to ticket holders".

The switch came about due to "concerns over the quality of the playing surface" at the original venue.

City Stadium is the home of club side FK Sutjeska and regularly hosts Montenegro Under-21 matches.

The FAW and 700 travelling Wales fans, many of whom have already booked accommodation in the capital will have a journey of around an hour from Podgorica by road or train.

In a statement, the FAW added: "Since the change of venue, the FAW has been meeting daily with fan travel organisers, and with their collaboration and understanding, arrangements have been made to ensure Cymru fans with tickets will be able to attend the Nations League match on 9 September.

"The FAW has also been in communication with the Football Association of Montenegro and have confirmed that the original ticket allocation will be honoured. The FAW does not expect any additional tickets to be made available."

The governing body earlier acknowledged "the inconvenience that this announcement will have on Cymru’s travelling fans, who have already planned for Podgorica".

Chief executive Noel Mooney had also said the FAW had "been asking for a new pitch to be laid in Podgorica for several weeks".

In a statement issued on its website, Uefa said "extremely hot conditions" in Montenegro this summer meant the pitch at Gradski Stadion in Podgorica had "suffered significant damage".

The statement continued: "This combined with a heavy match schedule has meant that despite the best efforts of the Football Association of Montenegro to improve the quality of the pitch, the Nations League fixture between Montenegro and Wales will be moved to an alternative venue, City Stadium Niksic, to ensure a better pitch quality for the match."

Earlier this month a spokesperson for Uefa told BBC Sport Wales that European football's governing body was confident the game could go ahead at the original venue.

Reports in the Montenegrin media show the Podgorica National Stadium pitch to be dry and cratered in places, with large areas of grass missing.

The pitch had already been deemed unfit for a Uefa Conference League qualifier and Buducnost Podgorica’s fixture against CSKA Sofia was switched to the nearby DG Arena.

On Monday Uefa visited the alternative venue in Niksic, which has never staged a senior international.

There are concerns the 5,000-capacity stadium does not meet Uefa criteria for staging such matches.

Niksic is around 53 kilometres from Podgorica, with the journey taking about an hour by bus or train.

Uefa decided not to pursue other possible alternatives for hosting the fixture.

Those included playing the game on neutral territory - in neighbouring Albania - or reversing the fixture, with Wales hosting next month's meeting and Craig Bellamy's side travelling to Montenegro in October.

Wales start their Nations League campaign on Friday, 6 September with Turkey's visit to Cardiff the first game for new boss Bellamy.