AFC officially 'kills' artificial turf fields in tournaments

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has just announced that it will not allow artificial turf fields to host matches in some official tournaments under the AFC system.

Artificial turf will be banned by AFC in upcoming tournaments - Photo: AFC

The tournaments that AFC refers to are World Cup qualifiers, Asian Cup qualifiers, Women's Asian Cup qualifiers, Women's Olympic qualifiers, AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions League Two and the AFC Women's Asian Cup.

AFC explained that this decision is aimed at improving competition standards, professional quality and strongly internationalizing matches.

This decision forced some countries and clubs in Asia that are using artificial turf to change their pitches, or move to a new stadium.

Asian media said the new AFC standard will directly impact a number of countries such as Palestine, Turkmenistan, Philippines, Afghanistan, Bhutan, Mongolia. These are countries that still use artificial turf for international matches of national teams.

In addition, AFC also “blown the whistle” on clubs using artificial turf fields such as Lion City Sailors, Tampines Rovers (Singapore), Kaya Iloilo, Cebu (Philippines), Ravshan Kulob, Istiklal (Tajikistan), Altiyan (Turkmenistan), Royal Thimphu (Bhutan). Field standards will play an important role in licensing clubs.

By issuing the ban, AFC has helped players overcome the fear of playing on artificial turf. Many representatives of Vietnamese football have been victims of artificial turf, which is prone to injury and scratches. Not to mention the technical standards on artificial turf are different from natural grass, making it difficult for players to get into the rhythm of the match.

Not long ago, Thailand coach Masatada Ishii said that the "war elephants" lost 1-3 to Turkmenistan and were at a disadvantage in the Asian Cup qualifiers because they were not used to the artificial turf. Mr. Masatada Ishii's reasoning is not entirely unreasonable, as the Thai team has a tradition of underperforming when playing on artificial turf.

HOAI DU

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/afc-chinh-thuc-khai-tu-san-co-nhan-tao-o-cac-giai-dau-20250613160034914.htm