A football club in Ireland and a hockey club in the Netherlands have both faced the music following the incorrect or uninformed use of chemicals.

The pitch of Letterkenny Rovers FC in Donegal is temporarily closed after it was sprayed with a chemical weedkiller, where the contractor was supposed to apply fertilizers to the field. While the club is a tenant at the Aura sports complex, it is responsible for the upkeep of the field.

The problem was only discovered days after the weed killer was applied to the field. Even though the field was closed and repair works started immediately, the club fears that it will not be able to use the field until the start of the new year.

Health scare

Training sessions at hockey club Basko in Veldhoven, the Netherlands, were halted last Wednesday when it was discovered that a wrong mixture of chemicals had been applied to treat algae.

The chemical mixture that had been applied was of a much stronger nature than was intended. The contractor had planned to apply hydrogen peroxide by means of the irrigation system. However, the hydrogen peroxide was accidentally mixed with another chemical product, which resulted in the final mixture becoming unstable.

Once this was detected, local authorities decided to evacuate the fields.