FIFA Report Gives Synthetic Turf Clean Bill of Health
January 9th, 2007
In the late 1960s, when Astroturf was first installed at the Houston Astrodome, synthetic turf gained a reputation as being unsafe. Back then, it was completely understandable why people would feel nervous playing on the stuff; old-school astroturf was about as soft and forgiving as a pile of Brillo Pads.
But since then, synthetic turf has made some major technological strides. Modern turf systems are strikingly similar to natural grass in almost every way - in some ways, they’re even better; synthetic fields don’t turn to mud when it rains, they can stand up to several times the amount of usage, and they don’t cost an arm and a leg to maintain.
Yet for some reason, the public perception that synthetic turf is less safe than natural grass has remained constant. And due to the relative lack of published research on the subject*, it’s been a tough issue to overcome for synthetic turf companies.
But all that is about to change.
A recent report released by FIFA, the world’s governing body for soccer, finds very little difference between artificial turf and natural grass in regard to injuries. Based on data collected at the FIFA U-17 Championship tournament in Peru, the report concludes that there was “very little difference in the incidence, nature and causes of injuries observed during games played on artificial turf compared with those played on grass.”
The report also lauds artificial turf for its stellar performance under adverse climate conditions, and its simple, cost-effective maintenance.
* Penn State Researcher Andrew McNitt is currently executing a multi-year study of synthetic turf injuries across a wide range of surface brands and types. Read more about this study here.
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