“It’s time to actively use artificial turf football fields.”
It is a realistic alternative that is being proposed in many parts of the soccer community at a time when it is not easy to manage and maintain natural grass soccer fields. The main goal is to actively utilize artificial grass fields while maintaining natural grass fields to a minimum level in consideration of difficulties such as heat waves, cold waves, and insufficient finances.
Multiple professional soccer team officials and grass experts said in a recent interview with this newspaper, “The quality of artificial grass has improved to almost the same level as natural grass these days,” adding, “We should consider making a lot of artificial grass practice stadiums and even playing official games at artificial grass stadiums if necessary.”
Artificial turf has almost no technical problem. GS Champions Park, home to the FC Seoul clubhouse, is home to the top artificial turf of Korea. FC Seoul’s under-18 youth teams mainly use artificial turf, while professional teams use natural turf. “When I ask players who used to use artificial turf as a boy and then become professionals, they say that they hardly notice a difference,” said Sung Min, head of the Seoul Football Association. The Korea Football Association will implement a certification system that categorizes the quality of artificial turf into grades 1 to 3 starting in 2026. First-class stadiums can host professional games and A-matches. Second-class teams can host K3 and K4 leagues and the WK League. The Korea Professional Football Association has already implemented a certification system for artificial turf.
Not a few countries around the world actively use artificial turf fields. Norway, Sweden, Russia, the U.S., Canada, and even the U.K. hold professional and A-match games on artificial turf. FIFA also officially approves artificial turf. The key to the evaluation is to approve artificial turf quality and performance and to allow professional and A-match games at the highest-rated artificial turf fields such as FIFA Quality and FIFA Quality Pro. The FIFA homepage also introduces artificial turf fields by country and grade. The FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015 in Canada was held on artificial turf. “We need to get rid of our preconceived notions about artificial turf,” a grass expert said. “It has already been proven that artificial turf has the same performance as natural grass.”
Not all professional soccer fields in Korea should have artificial turf. This means that artificial turf should be used as a practice ground while playing on natural turf as much as possible. Artificial turf is very cheap to install and maintain compared to natural turf. There is almost no limit on the number of uses and when to use it. “Players should also accept the reality that they can practice and play some games on artificial turf,” said an official from a professional team. 스포츠토토
In order to use artificial grass at a professional level, continuous management is needed as well as the quality of the grass itself. “There are many domestic artificial grass products that have excellent quality,” a grass expert said. “If we construct and manage them thoroughly, artificial grass fields can be maintained at their best at a lower cost and easier work than natural grass fields.” He explained, “If we build a good drainage and water supply, we can spray enough water to reduce the temperature of the grass if necessary.” An official of a professional team predicted, “If we use natural grass fields when the weather is good and use artificial grass fields made by region in hot weather and cold weather, it will also help protect natural grass fields.” A domestic soccer official said, “A dome stadium and an artificial grass field are essential for the transition to the autumn and spring season that the K League is agonizing over.” Yang In-kyu, a senior researcher at the Korea Institute of Construction and Environmental Testing (KCL), said, “If we use natural and artificial grass in a balanced way, we can ensure the sustainability of soccer and ease the economic burden on clubs and leagues.”