Assessing drainage mats for a shallow profile football pitch

Engineering of Sport 15 - Proceedings from the 15th International Conference on the Engineering of Sport (ISEA 2024)

FIFA requires all FIFA World Cup (FWC) matches to be played on natural grass surfaces, however eight out of the 16 FWC 2026 stadiums feature artificial turf pitches. Converting these pitches into a natural grass playing surface will be cost-prohibitive, as these pitches will most likely revert to artificial turf. To address this challenge, researchers have proposed the development of a temporary shallow-profile playing surface that can be installed over existing artificial turf, concrete or asphalt and be easily removed after the matches. The current practice for temporary football pitches involves laying sod directly on top of concrete, asphalt, or concert flooring. To meet FIFA’s standards, a drainage system should be installed. A drainage mat is a suitable choice for the proposed shallow-profile system due to its relatively thin profile, portability, and ease of installation. Drainage mats have been used as an alternative to gravel layer for natural grass playing surfaces. However, the inclusion of drainage mats might affect playing surface characteristics such assurface hardness and ball rebound height. Hence, the objective of this study was to compare the effects of different combinations of drainage mats and shock pads on the playing surface characteristics of a temporary shallow-profile system.