Stad Linite loses natural surface, goes artificial |30 November 2006

Speaking to Sports Nation yesterday, Seychelles Football Federation (SFF) chairman Suketu Patel said that the Fédération internationale de football association (Fifa) recommended 2-star latest generation of artificial turf, designed specifically to mirror the playing characteristics of professional football, will be installed instead.

Patel added that “I would have preferred to have natural grass as the Stad Linite surface, but because it is not well maintained, it is useless. It is also not good publicity for African football when we see on TV pitches with patches of red earth. It is widely believed that such high-quality artificial turf will become the norm in the next decade as it has been approved by Fifa for international competitions.”

It is said that the artificial turf to be installed is of a higher quality than the astro-turf surfaces of the smaller pitches next to the Maison Football at Roche Caïman.

Preparation work for the re-surfacing of the Stad Linite pitch is being undertaken by Vijay Construction, costing R600,000, less than half the price asked by two other construction companies.

While the Seychelles government is paying Vijay Construction R600,000 for the sub-base preparatory work, Fifa is funding the artificial turf which will be laid by Netherlands-based company GreenFields Sports Turf Systems, starting December 15.

The new Stad Linite playing surface will measure 105 metres long

and 68 metres wide.

SFF boss Patel described Vijay Construction as “a supporter of Seychelles’ football” and noted that “the cooperation between the local football body and the Seychelles government is an example for the whole world to follow.”

It is to note that Fifa’s financial contribution of US $600,000 will go towards the laying of artificial turf on two pitches here. Apart from Stad Linite, the new stadium being constructed at Amitié, on Praslin, will also be surfaced with the latest generation of artificial turf.

The Stad Linite pitch is expected to be ready by January 15, 2007, in time for First Division League champions Anse Réunion and Land Marine Cup winners St Michel to adjust themselves and get acquainted to the playing surface before hosting their opponents in next season’s African Champions League and African Confederations Cup respectively. The preliminary round of both competitions is expected to start in late January 2007.

The 12,000-seater Stad Linite was built in the early 1990s and hosted its first match in 1993 when the country organised the Fourth Indian Ocean Islands Games (IOIG).

Amsterdam giants Ajax, the kings of European club football on four separate occasions, are the leaders in artificial turf use.  Reputed for producing quality players like Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Dennis Bergkamp, Ajax Amsterdam recently upgraded their installations to the latest generation of artificial turf after installing Fifa recommended 1-star turf inside the Amsterdam Arena in 2002.

It is worth noting that the very first international football tournament to be played entirely on football turf took place in Peru in September/October 2005. This was the biennial Fifa U-17 World Championship.

In Finland in 2003, the Töölo stadium, one of the four venues for the Fifa U-17 World Championship, was laid with a new artificial pitch. 

G. G.