No-one has officially complained about the playing surfaces yet, and the pitches are not in any way hindering a high standard of play.
June 23, 2006 (Press Release) --
No-one has officially complained about the playing surfaces yet, and the pitches are not in any way hindering a high standard of play. After all, Argentina beat Serbia and Montenegro in Gelsenkirchen with some of the best flowing football yet seen at the tournament. However, a chorus of disapproval from coaches and players, combined with the damage to some playing surfaces clearly visible at certain stadiums and on TV, indicate the grass at the 2006 FIFA World Cup™ leaves something to be desired.
The OC is responsible for the pitches at the 12 FIFA World Cup stadiums, and made no attempt to disguise the one minor aspect of the tournament organisation which has gone awry at a news conference on the 18th day of the finals. "We've yet to achieve an optimal state of affairs with regard to the pitches," OC vice-president Wolfgang Niersbach acknowledged. Reporting an opinion shared and approved by colleague Horst R. Schmidt, Niersbach made no secret of his disappointment. "I wouldn't describe the situation in one or two cases as dramatic, but we're still a little annoyed, because we thought we'd played it safe, specifically in this area.“
One of the reasons for the occasional divots and bare patches on the specially-blended grass surfaces could be the architecture of the stadiums in Hamburg and Gelsenkirchen, where ventilation and natural light are at a premium. But the fundamental dilemma, Niersbach reported, was the fact that the month of May, when the turf was re-laid at all twelve stadiums after the Bundesliga season, was uncharacteristically cold and wet throughout Germany. In a number of places, a fungal layer developed under the 2.8 centimetre blades of grass, preventing the young turf making optimal contact with the earth and thus hindering its growth.
The groundsmen and experts at the various stadiums are now engaged in a programme of repair and improvement. "We're taking the state of the pitches seriously and looking at every option," Niersbach stated. Unanimous praise from all the coaches and teams for the training pitches, which also use the blend of grass developed especially for the finals, was no consolation for the issue at the stadiums. The turf for the venues was expected to fulfil higher standards in any case.
At any rate, the discussion over the pitches at this year's FIFA World Cup has promoted the subject to the top of the agenda for the 2010 finals in South Africa. "Artificial turf basically represents the future," declared FIFA Communications Director Markus Siegler after consulting with President Joseph S. Blatter. “Artificial turf has been approved for play for the last one and a half years. We can't rule out artificial turf being used at a FIFA World Cup finals for the first time in 2010, although obviously it would be subject to stringent quality controls."
Source: http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com
The OC is responsible for the pitches at the 12 FIFA World Cup stadiums, and made no attempt to disguise the one minor aspect of the tournament organisation which has gone awry at a news conference on the 18th day of the finals. "We've yet to achieve an optimal state of affairs with regard to the pitches," OC vice-president Wolfgang Niersbach acknowledged. Reporting an opinion shared and approved by colleague Horst R. Schmidt, Niersbach made no secret of his disappointment. "I wouldn't describe the situation in one or two cases as dramatic, but we're still a little annoyed, because we thought we'd played it safe, specifically in this area.“
One of the reasons for the occasional divots and bare patches on the specially-blended grass surfaces could be the architecture of the stadiums in Hamburg and Gelsenkirchen, where ventilation and natural light are at a premium. But the fundamental dilemma, Niersbach reported, was the fact that the month of May, when the turf was re-laid at all twelve stadiums after the Bundesliga season, was uncharacteristically cold and wet throughout Germany. In a number of places, a fungal layer developed under the 2.8 centimetre blades of grass, preventing the young turf making optimal contact with the earth and thus hindering its growth.
The groundsmen and experts at the various stadiums are now engaged in a programme of repair and improvement. "We're taking the state of the pitches seriously and looking at every option," Niersbach stated. Unanimous praise from all the coaches and teams for the training pitches, which also use the blend of grass developed especially for the finals, was no consolation for the issue at the stadiums. The turf for the venues was expected to fulfil higher standards in any case.
At any rate, the discussion over the pitches at this year's FIFA World Cup has promoted the subject to the top of the agenda for the 2010 finals in South Africa. "Artificial turf basically represents the future," declared FIFA Communications Director Markus Siegler after consulting with President Joseph S. Blatter. “Artificial turf has been approved for play for the last one and a half years. We can't rule out artificial turf being used at a FIFA World Cup finals for the first time in 2010, although obviously it would be subject to stringent quality controls."
Source: http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com
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