b'ES: WHICH CHARACTERISTICS OF THE GRASS PITCH ARE MOST IMPORTANT FOR A GOOD PLAYING EXPERIENCE?UEFA:Through its pitch support programmes, UEFA has three main objectives when it comes to the quality of a pitch: -Player safety: Surfaces should be safe for players to per- THE KEY FOR UEFA IS THAT THE form on and not contribute to any injury when being usedVENUES ARE SELECTING GRASS for a match to be played on. -To contribute to the quality of the football that can beSPECIES THAT ARE SUITABLE TO played: The pitch should not have a negative impact on the performance of the teams in terms of the interactionTHEIR PARTICULAR CLIMATE, between the player and the surface, and the ball and the surface.STADIUM ENVIRONMENT AND- The aesthetics of the pitch: This is an important aspect asthe playing surface is a representation of the competitions.LEVEL OF USE.Clubs and national teams are playing in front of television audiences of millions of people and it is important that the pitch is in the best possible condition, from an aesthetical point of view as well. ES: WHAT KIND OF CHALLENGES DO STADIUMS FACEStadium and the Tottenham Hotspur stadium are all examples WHILE TRYING TO MAINTAIN A GOOD GRASS PITCH? of this. UEFA:Modern stadia are increasingly becoming multi-use facil- The design of stadiums has also evolved over recent years, ities and the business models have been developed to generatewith many no longer having running tracks. The trend has been income all year round, through the staging of concerts and otherfor the tribunes to be steeper and closer to the pitch itself to non-football activities. This can place a great strain on the pitchimprove sight lines and give the spectators a better experience. and often leads to significant damage, even when the appropri- However, the consequence of this can sometimes lead to large ate measures have been put into place to minimise any poten- areas of the pitch having little access to direct sunlight, which tial effects. The stadium industry has begun to recognise thiscan hamper the recovery of the playing surface at certain points issue with many venues developing pitches that can be movedduring the season. Despite the development of various technol-outside of the stadium bowl in order to stage such events. Theogies, such as artificial pitch lights, that help the grounds team Arena AufSchalke (Gelsenkirchen, Germany), the St. Petersburgwith their maintenance, this is still proving to be a challenge. 12IEUROPEAN SEEDIEUROPEAN-SEED.COM'