Arena Essex promotor Ronnie Russell today apologised to speedway fans after he was forced to call off the Hammers' British League Cup meeting.
The Hammers were due to meet Peterborough at the Purfleet track on Friday evening.
But the match was called off because the Northamptonshire visitors were unable to send a team of suitable strength.
"I can only apologise to all our fans but I was in a dilemma," said Russell.
"I had been asking the Peterborough management all week to provide me with details of their squad but I kept getting fobbed off.
"When I was eventually given the names of riders, there were two blanks, three Conference League riders and only two of their contracted Elite League riders.
"And there was a serious doubt about one of them turning up as I understood that he already had an alternative commitment.
"After a series of discussions with the BSPA and the Peterborough promoters during the week, I reached a situation on Friday when I needed to ascertain the strength of our opponents and was told that the two blank spaces were going to be filled by two riders that weren't even in their Conference League team.
"Because they couldn't commit themselves to three Elite League riders, it was obvious that they were going to be very, very weak," added Russell.
Published Monday, June 9, 2003
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