Cardiff City have defended their pest control measures after a rat halted play during the second half of Wales’s World Cup qualifier against Belgium on Monday night. The rodent ran across the pitch at Cardiff City Stadium, prompting Real Madrid goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to make an unsuccessful attempt to catch it before Wales forward Brennan Johnson ushered it off the field.
Wayne Nash, the club’s head of operations and a security manager for the Football Association of Wales and Uefa, described the incident as unprecedented in his 36-year tenure. “We’ve had a stray dog on the pitch but this was something new, a freak of nature,” he said. The rat slipped past a ball boy and disappeared behind the referee review monitor, not to be seen again.
Nash attributed the presence of rats to the stadium’s proximity to allotments and railway sidings, which can be infested. “The railway bankings can be infested with rats. We know they are in the area and we do have the odd sighting of them,” he said, adding that the club works closely with pest control partners and follows stringent cleaning policies. Rat bait stations are in operation, and litter such as half-eaten burgers is cleared immediately after games.
While the incident was viewed as humorous by some, Nash highlighted the serious undertones. “They say you are never too far from a rat, especially in cities, and this one managed to get in,” he said. “If I was the ball boy or Brennan Johnson I would have run a mile.” Belgium went on to win the match 4-2.
