www.psam.uk.com
Driving up FOOTBALL standards
S
IS Pitches, which is spearheading the supply and installation of
premium quality synthetic and natural grass pitches in global markets, reports burgeoning demand for elite level stadium pitches under a strategy by Middle Eastern states to drive up the standard of football in home leagues and construct stadiums to serve a global audience.
The King Abdullah Sports City project in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is the latest project nearing completion. The 60,000-seat stadium is the centrepiece of the larger multi-sports complex commissioned by the Saudi king (the stadium named in his honour), which will host football, athletics and indoor sporting fi xtures.
The project is being delivered through a joint venture between Belgian contractors BESIX and local fi rm Al Muhaidib Contracting, with SIS Pitches contracted to construct four natural grass pitches – the main stadium pitch
and three additional ones circling the stadium structure.
All parties are working fl at-out to meet the tight deadline set to ensure early completion. “The stadium was originally planned for sign-off in October 2014 but the works were brought forward a year,” explains David Ball, Managing Director of SIS (ME) LLC.
“Works are being delivered round the clock to get it ready in time. Construction of the three training pitches started on 1 June and completed on 31 August,” says Ball. “The grass was sprigged with Bermuda 419 stolons imported from our turf farm in the UAE. Work on the main stadium pitch is scheduled for October, the grass harvested in jumbo rolls from the onsite turf farm and then laid in the stadium.”
The King Abdullah Sports City project bolsters the already strong presence of SIS Pitches in the Middle East, where the company also maintain surfaces for two football clubs in Dubai – Al Wasl FC and
PLAY stadium turf
A leading UK synthetic and natural turf contractor is bucking the trend of inward overseas investment in the UK’s beautiful game by getting involved in the fast-moving Middle Eastern football scene.
the Al Nasr SC – both longstanding clubs with rich histories in the capital.
The SIS Pitches turf farm is located in Ras al-Khaimah about a one-hour drive north from Dubai. “Here we grow 90,000m2
of Bermuda 419 turf
and some 20,000 m2 of Paspallum,” says Ball.
“Both species are supplied to the local landscape market but is also used for our own sports projects in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). To date, we’ve shipped grass further afi eld – to Jeddah, Kuwait and Basrah in Iraq – and locally for the Emirates Airlines cricket facilities in Dubai.”
SIS Pitches prepare, supply and install natural and synthetic sports surfaces for a wide range of venues from international stadiums to community projects, including World Cup fi nals, African Cup of Nations, European Champions League, Six Nations rugby, Real Madrid, Shakhtar Donetsk, Manchester City, Durham University, Newcastle Falcons, Galatasaray, Hampden Park, Benfi ca and Amsterdam Arena.
The surface at the stadium of Al Nasr SC is one of many pitches maintained by SIS Pitches.
www.sispitches.com
George Mullen, SIS Pitches, 07812 341833
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