Tigers unhappy with venue change

European rugby officials are travelling to Italy after Leicester complained about the change of venue for their Heineken Cup tie against Calvisano next month.

The Pool One match on January 15 has been moved 30 miles to the Campo Comunale di Rovato in Brescia, against the wishes of the Tigers.

“The switch in venue, from San Michele to Campo Comunale di Rovato is a matter of concern to us, as we are expecting between 1,500 and 2,000 supporters to make the trip to Italy and the new venue has a capacity of only 1,000,” Tigers managing director David Clayton told the club’s official club website, www.tigers.co.uk.

“We have informed the ERC of our reservations and their representatives will be travelling to Italy in order to inspect the facilities and evaluate the potential for temporary expansion of the ground’s capacity.

“We are also investigating the possibility of providing a shuttle bus service to and from the ground for our supporters.”

The venue change was enforced because the Italian club do not have floodlights at their own ground, and Heineken Cup rules state round six matches must kick off at the same time – which will be 3pm Irish time.