GLASGOW director Peter Facenna has moved to clarify events that led to Sunday’s play-off match with Poole being abandoned.
The Tigers were four in front when heavy rain started to fall during heat five.
Track work took place before heat six – but that race was called to a halt when Paul Starke fell and, with drops of rain still in the air, referee Wayne Jarvis made the decision to call the meeting off.
It means the home leg of the semi-final will be restaged this weekend.
Facenna said: “Last night was a massive disappointment for all concerned, but some of the accusations that have been levelled at us are simply unfair.
“First of all, those saying that we intentionally called the meeting off to get the second leg or to delay the tie are clearly mistaken.
“As we finished above Poole in the league table, we were within our rights to take the second leg of the tie, which would have meant we wouldn’t have been racing until this coming weekend, however in the interests of moving the competition forward and in consultation with the Poole promotion, we agreed to take the first leg so that we could complete the tie earlier.
“The cut-off date for league fixtures to be completed was August 31, yet had we insisted on taking the second leg of the semi-final, we wouldn’t have been racing until this coming weekend, which is over four weeks later, during which time the weather in Glasgow has been mostly dry.
“As for the abandonment, I for one am not going to dictate to riders that they must ride if they personally feel that it’s not safe to do so. The sport is dangerous enough without asking riders to ride against their will.
“Whilst this wasn’t the case for all riders, it only takes a few to say it’s unsafe to ride. Ultimately, it’s up to the referee to decide whether it’s safe to carry on. Whilst I wasn’t personally involved in any of the discussions that took place between the referee, the riders, and the team managers, the referee obviously felt it wasn’t safe to continue.
“Whether or not we would have got to heat 15 we’ll never know, but I can say that it started to heavily rain within an hour of the meeting having been abandoned. At the very least, the spectacle wouldn’t have been great with one racing line, little passing, and riders caked in shale, which isn’t really what anyone wants for a competitive semi-final.
“The track staff do an amazing job at Glasgow and consistently produce a wonderful racing surface where week in week out we see some great racing with multiple passes. Having worked all weekend to prepare the track, I felt sorry for the staff, as I did for the riders and supporters of both teams, many of whom had travelled far to get to Glasgow.”
He continued: “The restaging date has now been set for Saturday at 3pm and I’d like to thank the Poole promotion and their riders for accommodating this.
“Friday is our usual race night, but if we were to race on Friday, on top of already missing Danyon Hume and Ulrich Ostergaard through injury, we’d also have to miss Ben Basso and Tom Brennan, as they’re both now racing in the final round of the SGP2 series in Torun.
“Tom is also racing for Team GB in Poland on Sunday, so he’s having to fly into the UK on Saturday morning, race in our semi-final, and then fly back out to Poland later that night, so it’s quite evident we’re doing our best to try and get this tie completed.
“We now head to Poole on Wednesday for the first leg. Our record at Poole’s hasn’t been great and they’re clearly in good form when you look at the score from their KO Cup fixture last week, so it’s a tough ask to get a win there, but the boys will be up for it and hopefully we can make some starts and keep it close.”