MilaneseDome, Wortana, Keronama, Free Republics
Love Holm and Kalervo Peltola scored early goals but that hadn't been enough for Republican National Soccer Team, LLC as Damukuni came from behind with two goals, one just before halftime and another just after halftime to tie the match at 2 apiece. Those goals came just in time for the away side as heavy rain had begun falling outside and the roof of the MilaneseDome suddenly began opening as the 2nd half began, letting the rain fall onto the pitch. For the remainder of the match, the torrential downpour effectively eliminated any scoring opportunities for either side and the team representing the Free Republics had escaped a tough first challenge with a draw. This was a shocking turn of events as the MilaneseDome's retractable roof had not been used in years ever since the mechanical parts to open it had broken down and the city government of Wortana had refused to fix the stadium's roof deeming it a "non-essential" repair.
A few months earlier, Soccer General Rule Theriault had approached some of his corporate sponsors and had specifically asked them to repair the roof on the off chance that it might prove a useful surprise at some point. Surprisingly, they agreed to fund the renovations to the roof. The funds had been allocated and a construction team had begun working on the roof in secret when the stadium was closed. This renovation to the stadium was finally finished just 3 days before the start of World Cup Qualifying. As the news of the successful renovation was relayed to the Soccer General, he checked the forecast for Wortana and decided that scheduling the opening match of World Cup Qualifying for that stadium would be appropriate. While he did not expect his team to secure a significant lead early, his contingency plan was in place.
After Peltola scored his goal to put RNSC up 2 goals to nil, Theriault grabbed his phone and called his temporary employee. The temporary employee answered and told the Republican manager that he'd open the roof right away. Unfortunately for Theriault, the employee just so happened to be on his way to the concession stand and, since he was just hired for this one game anyway, he decided to just go to the concession stand and buy his dinner instead of following Theriault's orders immediately. When he finished his dinner, he rushed up several flights of stairs to the middle deck and then to the upper deck before walking clear to the other side of the stadium. Finally, he happened across the secret room where the roof controls were located, which was always kept locked. He grabbed his copy of the key to the room and opened the room then finally was able to hit the big red button on the wall that opened the roof. Out on the pitch, the roof began to open over the pitch while the bleachers remained under the cover of the roof.
Following the match, Soccer General Rule Theriault was livid that the employee had taken so long to open the roof but he was unable to find this individual, who quickly collected his pay and left the stadium. Theriault entered his team's locker room angry and frustrated that his team had lost 2 points because of an incompetent employee but with press conferences coming up, the "Soccer General" had to quickly compose himself. When the reporter for Sporting World asked him what had happened, Theriault responded "I have no idea but I think its a shame that some idiot opened the roof and robbed us of our opportunity to win that match." The following day, Sporting World's lead story was about the investigation by local police into how the roof had been unexpectedly opened but the police had discovered that all of the security cameras around the control room for the roof had been mysteriously disabled. The local Chief of Police released a statement to the media stating, "We are investigating the bizarre and unlawful opening of the retractable roof of the MilaneseDome. We are also investigating how this roof was repaired. Public property cannot be lawfully repaired without the proper approvals from the right regulatory bodies. We ask that anybody with information regarding the incident, which happened during a soccer match, please come forward immediately."
OOC: Just to make this explicit, if it wasn't clear enough already from the context of my RP: ICly, only the Republican National Team, those hired by them and those involved in funding the repair of the roof have any knowledge of these events and they aren't talking. To the media, this is just a bizarre and unexplained incident. To the police in Wortana, it is a crime for which they have no leads at the moment.
