Uefa sanction artificial turf

Governing body approve synthetic pitches

Uefa have sanctioned the use of artificial turf in all European competitions, including internationals.

After years of lobbying, European football’s governing body this week accepted that the latest synthetic pitches are a suitable alternative to grass.

Uefa spokesman Rob Faulkner said:

“People in England have bad memories of the artificial pitches of Luton and QPR in the 1980s, but the latest generation are completely different and are much more like grass. We have sanctioned its use from the start of next season but only as long as it is the latest generation of artificial turf and meets a whole series of standards.”

Uefa Cup matches have already been played on artificial turf at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium but they can only be used with the away side’s consent.

Iceland’s Hafnarfjordur refused to play a Uefa Cup match at Dunfermline Athletic’s East End Park this season because the Scottish side have an artificial surface.

Uefa had ordered a two-year study into synthetic surfaces to monitor any differences from the number of injuries suffered by players to the bounce of the ball.

Although European Championship qualifiers now will be allowed on synthetic pitches, Uefa will continue to insist that the finals are staged entirely on grass so that all teams in a tournament play on the same surface.

It is anticipated that several leading clubs from Scandinavia and Eastern Europe will install artificial turf in preparation for the start of the 2005/06 season.

English clubs are also giving the subject serious consideration.

Last week, Leeds United’s chief operations officer Shaun Harvey said:

“Technology has moved on at such a speed that if the regulations change, we’d have to consider the additional revenue streams that could be generated. We already have a state-of-the-art artificial pitch at our training ground which is as near to grass as it can be. The players are delighted with it and a lot of clubs, especially in the lower divisions, would benefit from replacing their grass pitches because they’d be able to use them seven days a week.”

Cavan Walker, Sheffield Wednesday’s commercial director added:

“If it didn’t affect the quality of football, we’d obviously have to look at it. We played two pre-season games in Ibiza and the quality was extremely good.”

Despite a possible cost of £300,000, an artificial surface seems set to be installed at Torquay United’s Plainmoor following chairman Mike Bateson’s comments:

“We could dispense with renting our training pitches and turn an under-used ground into a thriving centre for the local community. Multi-usage would give us a return of something like £50,000 a year.”