SAN DIEGO, United States (AFP) — The National Football League remained undecided on Wednesday on whether to move Sunday's scheduled game at San Diego as fires continued to wreak havoc in California.
The San Diego Chargers were due to host the Houston Texans on Sunday.
But as of Wednesday, the Chargers' Qualcomm Stadium was housing some 5,000 evacuees, down from 12,000 who had spent the night at the facility on Tuesday.
The Chargers decamped to Arizona on Tuesday to train, and San Diego State University, which was to have held a gridiron game at Qualcomm on Saturday, postponed the contest.
"The Chargers continue to have only one goal: provide Mayor (Jerry) Sanders with the time and flexibility he needs to make whatever decision the mayor believes is in the best interests of the people of San Diego," the Chargers said in a statement released Wednesday.
"The Chargers are fully prepared to implement whatever decision the mayor makes, including either playing the game at Qualcomm Stadium or relocating the game to another facility outside the San Diego area."
The Chargers are using the facilities of NFL rivals the Arizona Cardinals to practice this week. But while the Cardinals are idle on Sunday, their stadium is hosting a motorcycle show.
While the move to Arizona took Chargers players out of harm's way, general manager A.J. Smith said that at least 40 members of the organization have had their homes evacuated because of the fires, including Most Valuable Player running back LaDainian Tomlinson and linebacker Shawne Merriman.
"It was pretty somber," Chargers' center Nick Hardwick said of the atmosphere. "They asked guys to raise their hands if they were affected and three quarters of the team, at least, raised their hands. It was pretty unreal."
A total of 318,000 households have been ordered evacuated in San Diego, where officials have put the numbers of displaced people at 500,000.
The Chargers have been affected by fires before.
In 2003, fires in San Diego County forced the team to move a Monday night home game against the Miami Dolphins to Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona.
Copyright © 2009 AFP. All rights reserved. More »
