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Reports of trapdoor emergency exits being built at Eden Park for the 1981 Springbok tour have been questioned by three people involved with the stadium at the time.
Ross Meurant, who headed up the police Red Squad, said he had never heard of the trapdoors. Former assistant secretary
to the Auckland Cricket Association, Barbara Stockwell, said the trapdoors were never put in and Ron Don, then chairman of the Auckland Rugby Union, said it was someone's idea of a joke.
However, Eden Park trust board CEO John Alexander issued a statement this afternoon to say that the trapdoor did exist.
"The trapdoor in question was installed by the Eden Park trust board. For obvious reasons there weren't many people who knew about it at the time," he said.
Mr Alexander said builder Terry Henshaw who installed the trapdoor remembers it well and was able to show demolition staff where to find it.
Mr Meurant would not consent to an interview but sent nzherald.co.nz an email saying he knew nothing of secret trapdoors but had heard a rumour that there were bombs in the sewer system below the park.
He said he now regrets "becoming the face" of the Red Squad and describes it as being a "mill stone around my neck".
Barbara Stockwell was the assistant secretary of Auckland Cricket at the time of the 1981 Springbok tour and said if there had been a trap door, it would have come up inside the ladies public loo.
"As far as these escape hatches, I don't know what on earth this chap is talking about because there weren't any," Ms Stockwell said.
She said the Springbok team set their beds up in the Eden Park boardroom.
"They actually asked me to make their beds at one stage but I told them they were big enough and ugly enough to make their own," Ms Stockwell said.
She said during the Springbok test build-up, which she opposed, the ground was crawling with police, the army was present and staff went through an intense security process.
"They did put in a very sophisticated alarm system, well for those days it was sophisticated, to pick up any sound of breaking glass but they had to adjust it because it went off every time the phone rang," Ms Stockwell said.
She said bomb sniffer dogs were also tested inside the stadium but walked around the fake bombs planted by trainers to test them.
Ms Stockwell said Cricket association staff asked for an emergency exit and were originally given a hammer to break through the office windows. Later a "half-size door" was fitted.
Ron Don was then chairman of Auckland rugby and recalls the time well.
He said he had been trying to contact Mr Henshaw but had not had phone calls returned.
"We didn't need to do any stupid things like that because our security for the Springbok team that played the test was water-tight," Mr Don said.
He said the Auckland Rugby Union was in charge of security at the ground and no trapdoors were built.
Veteran protestor John Minto previously told nzherald.co.nz he too had never heard of the secret trapdoor.
