By Ed Aarons BBC Sport, Johannesburg

The pitch at the Dobsonville stadium has come under fire

The tournament director for the 2011 African Youth Championship in South Africa has told BBC Sport they had no choice but to remain at the current venue - despite concerns over the pitch.

The pitch at the Dobsonville Stadium in Soweto has come under fire from several coaches after the first round of matches, with many asking for the remaining matches to be moved.

But after exploring alternatives the tournament director, Russell Paul, admitted they had been unable to find a solution.

The decision means Dobsonville will remain the sole venue for the tournament except for one of the final games in each group which will be played at another venue in Johannesburg.

"Obviously we took lots of issues into consideration and looked at alternative venues but the short nature of the tournament meant it just wasn't possible," he said.

"The ideal would have been to move the tournament in its entirety but that was logistically very difficult to achieve. On consultation with the Confederation of African Football (Caf), we decided that it was best to stay where we are.

We haven't had any rain for the past 12 hours and none is forecast for the next few days so hopefully that will help Russell Paul, Tournament Director 2011 African Youth Championships

"We looked at more than a dozen venues. It's easy to say that we could have moved to another city completely but that brings up a whole host of new issues such as transporting the teams and finding new accommodation."

Both Nigeria and Ghana's under-20 coaches voiced their frustration with the sub-standard pitch after their match on Monday but South Africa Football Association (Safa) President, Kirsten Nematandani, revealed recent heavy rain in the Johannesburg area had hampered preparations.

"They have looked everywhere and all other fields are waterlogged," he said.

"It's a shame but moving would cause a lot of disruption for everyone and we hope the pitch will improve over the next few days.

"The best thing is to make the best of what we have."

Hosts South Africa meet neighbours Lesotho on Wednesday, with three more matches scheduled for the following 24 hours.

Despite that Paul is confident that the the pitch, which usually serves as the home ground of local side Moroka Swallows, will hold up.

"They are working hard on the pitch to sort out the technical issues and we have hired the best available people to make sure we can actually play," he insisted.

"We haven't had any rain for the past 12 hours and none is forecast for the next few days so hopefully that will help.

"It's a shame but this happens in football. In Europe, matches are played in much worse conditions during the winter but no one complains."

South Africa only agreed to host the tournament in March when civil unrest in Libya forced Caf to move the event.

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