MADRID: A fire broke out at the national football stadium of Andorra on Friday, a day before Andorra were due to face England in a World Cup qualifier.
The flames were put out by firefighters minutes later, according to reports, and nobody appeared hurt.
It remains unclear if the game against England on Saturday night will go ahead as planned.
“A small fire that has broken out at the National Stadium this Friday afternoon has been extinguished,” confirmed the Andorran government on Twitter.
The blaze at the Estadi Nacional erupted in the middle of one side of the stadium and left a large black mark on the ground.
A metal structure was damaged and a small part of the plastic pitch was also burned.
Plumes of black smoke had surged up and behind the stadium, affecting some of the block of flats located close behind on that side.
Sprinklers were initially used to control the fire before firefighters quickly arrived. Police were also on the scene.
England had trained at the 3,300-capacity ground earlier on Friday afternoon ahead of the Group I clash against Andorra, who are ranked 156th in the world.