STRI (Sports Turf Research Institute) Bulletin October 2014 | Page 8

Pre-match warm-ups focus high
levels of wear in specific areas

WORLD CUP
and restore the surface between training
sessions and between games to the best
of their ability within the time frame
available. Working closely with FIFA’s
General Coordinator, who is in charge
of the games at each venue, there
were opportunities to restrict usage of
specific areas of the pitch, which were
showing signs of excessive wear and
tear and in extreme cases we removed
training to a nearby training site to
preserve the pitch for the main game.
These decisions are not made lightly as
our objectives are to provide players
with a surface they can train and play on,
but where reinforcements are not used,
surface deterioration can be rapid and
the surfaces need to be protected.
Closing ceremonies are a necessity for
major events and each one appears to
be bigger and better than the last, with
bigger stages, more props and larger
numbers of performers. Rehearsals,
like players’ training sessions, have an
impact on the natural turf and need to
be managed. At Maracana rehearsal time
was restricted to one final rehearsal on
the playing surface and a sound check –
which had no impact on the turf. That
said, two and a half hours of samba,
even on a covered pitch, leaves its mark
and the shadows of the performers’
positions could be clearly seen on
television hours after the event.

Closing ceremony rehearsal lines could still be
seen on television hours after the event

Practice penalties damage

Reverse brushing, by hand, of each
zone flattened during the rehearsal
successfully removed the evidence and
for the eighteen minutes of the show,
the presentation for the final exhibited

little evidence of the closing ceremony
taking place. What many viewers don’t
realise is that the cover used as the
backdrop for the closing ceremony was
deployed four hours ahead of kick-off,
preventing any further maintenance,
watering or finishing touches to be
carried out prior to the game.
Despite the challenges presented in
Brazil during the World Cup across
the venues, team base camps and
venue specific training sites, the whole
team pulled together to overcome the
problems presented on a day-to-day
basis; lines of communication were good
in spite of the language barrier and there
were no surprises, which had not been
identified in advance.
Lessons will always be learnt to ensure
we limit those problems for future
events, continually working towards
perfection for the beautiful game.

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Bulletin October 2014 Issue 267