The San Diego Wave will wear its home uniforms and “host” Racing Louisville in its regular-season finale Sunday afternoon … at Lynn Family Stadium.

That’s in Louisville.

The Wave moved the game from Snapdragon Stadium because, it said in a terse statement Friday, “the current field conditions … have not met the standards required for a safe playing environment.” That’s code for a new grass turf installed a month ago being chewed up by four football and soccer games in October.

The Wave’s last two home dates were played on a field with large swaths of white sand to fill divots and bare spots that drew biting criticism from fans as well as head coach Landon Donovan. The club’s new ownership group inspected it Thursday morning. On Friday, a local representative from FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, walked the field and deemed it unplayable.

The Wave considered moving the game to USD’s Torero Stadium, the club’s home during its inaugural season, or Cal State Fullerton’s Titan Stadium. Both, however, lack the video review capabilities that meet National Women’s Soccer League standards.

Major League Soccer facilities have them, but both Los Angeles teams are in the playoffs.

Forfeiting was not an option because, while the 13th-place Wave have been eliminated from postseason contention, Louisville is battling for the eighth and final playoff spot entering the final weekend.

“The league,” the Wave statement said, “ultimately determined that moving the game to Louisville was the best solution.”

It will be played at the same time Sunday (2:30 p.m. PST, 5:30 p.m. in Louisville) to preserve its ESPN television window.

“Details for fans who purchased tickets to the match will be provided as soon as possible to ensure a seamless experience for all,” the club’s statement said. “We apologize to our fans, who have shown unwavering support, and assure you that we are actively working with stadium management to resolve this issue.

“Our players, fans, and community deserve a safe and top-quality environment for every game.”

The statement noted that the Snapdragon field is “the responsibility of a third party,” which is the Oak View Group, a management company hired by SDSU to operate the 32,000-seat facility.

The stadium issued its own statement Friday afternoon, noting it is “disappointed” in the NWSL’s decision and defending the field.

“Although we recognize the aesthetics of the field do not meet our desired expectations, we are confident in our readiness to play a match on Sunday in safe conditions,” the statement posted on social media said. “Several factors, including high demand for field use and weather, have affected the turf, but we are dedicated to investing resources, specialized expertise, and advanced technology to address these challenges going forward.

“We are actively evaluating its condition and our maintenance program to make necessary improvements. Our commitment includes integrating grow lights, exploring additional sod farm opportunities, evaluating different grass types and adopting diverse installation methods.”

This is the sixth field installed in Snapdragon since opening in August 2022. The previous turfs were Latitude 36 Bermudagrass grown by American Sod Farms in Escondido and also used at Petco Park. Over four days in late September, however, a Kentucky bluegrass was laid because it theoretically is more robust in cooler weather and would create a better field for the nationally televised Holiday Bowl in late December.

Losing a home game could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars for the Wave, which had already distributed more than 20,000 tickets for Sunday. That’s in addition to what several league sources characterized as “multiple five-figure fines” throughout the season from the NWSL and CONCACAF, soccer’s regional governing body, for repeated sub-par field conditions.

Donovan referenced the bumpy, unsightly field as a factor in a 2-0 home loss against last-place Houston on Oct. 13 that ended the Wave’s playoff hopes, with players struggling to keep their footing and the ball taking uneven bounces when played on the ground.

Asked what they could do differently against Mexico’s Club America in a CONCACAF W Champions Cup game three days later, also at Snapdragon, Donovan cracked: “Outside of replacing the whole field, I don’t think there’s a whole lot.”

That game was Oct. 16, and the only event on the field since was an SDSU football game last Saturday against Washington State.

SDSU hosts New Mexico at Snapdragon next Friday night, and school officials said they have no concerns about the game going ahead as planned. Interim New Mexico AD David Williams told the Albuquerque Journal he is aware of the field situation but has not held discussions about potentially moving the game.

Next year, however, the stadium will have yet another major tenant with MLS expansion franchise San Diego FC, further congesting the late summer and fall calendar. The club has said it is monitoring the situation and “working collaboratively to address the issue and ensure that quality standards are upheld.”

“This is the busiest stadium in America, there’s no doubt in my mind,” Mike Kern, the director of field and grounds for the Oak View Group, told the Union-Tribune two weeks ago for a story about the deteriorating field conditions. “I think we have a solid plan in place, but we’re a multi-use venue. We’re a college football stadium with two soccer teams.

“I know we’ll do as much in our power as we possibly can, and there will be no stone unturned. We have full carte blanche to make sure we’re using every resource possible.”

Staff writer Kirk Kenney contributed to this report.