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Are we being


grassed up?


Six years after FIFA accepted artificial grass as being good enough for use in professional football, research about the safety of a field is still ongoing and, every so often, sheds new light on general assumptions


A


rtificial grass was accepted by FIFA as an official surface in 2005, but the continuing developments by the artificial grass industry have


contributed to such high quality surfaces, FIFA claims, that they believe it is fair to refer to them as ‘football turf’ since late 2009. But, the debate about whether the surface contributes, or prevents injuries from happening is still ongoing. “The problem is that, in many competitions, players only play a match on artificial grass a few times per season. Most of the matches they play take place on natural grass. But, regardless, the quality of the surfaces, it takes up to six weeks for a human body to adjust to a new surface, meaning


that, in the days or even weeks after a match, players can sometimes still complain about stiff muscles and irritated ligaments,” says Jules van de Veen, a physiotherapist who has studied the correlation between injuries and artificial grass surfaces. “Other complaints are caused because few players really take care of their feet and fail to realise the importance of selecting the right footwear. Manufacturers of shoes have not come up with a shoe specifically for use on a football turf surface like they have done for hockey. And, contrary to hockey and athletics, shoes used for football don’t contribute to shock absorption or energy restitution.” “These shoes are ‘stiff’, so it is the human body that has to compensate for


the hardness or softness of a surface. But most of all; players do not realise that artificial grass surfaces tend to be warmer. These surfaces are made of plastic fibres and often have a black rubber infill between the grass blades. Both reflect the heat of the sun. Because of that heat reflection, feet tend to swell up and the shoes don’t compensate for that.”


“No wonder that many players complain about shoes being too small after a match.” Van de Veen believes that the current range of shoes can be improved by another 30%. “And shoes specifically designed for use on an artificial grass surface could add another 20% improvement. So, all in all, there is still much to achieve.”


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