Following the statements of the FC Barcelona coach, Ronald Koeman, about artificial turf football fields, Ignasi Senabre, a great connoisseur in this field and manager and founder of the specialized company Sports & Landscape, assures that artificial turf is safe and that offers a performance similar to that of natural turf at a much more affordable cost.
“Artificial turf fields pass rigorous performance and quality tests,” explained Senabre, “which include vertical deformation, shock absorption and ball rolling. Everything is absolutely biomechanically parameterized with the athlete’s safety in mind, and in fact there are several studies by recognized bodies that show that there are fewer injuries on artificial turf than on natural turf.”
In a statement made yesterday in reference to the Copa del Rey match that Barça plays tonight against Cornellà, Koeman said that playing on an artificial turf field was not football and considered that his team is not used to this field.
However, according to Senabre, the Barça field is is a hybrid football field, with components of artificial turf in its composition, and on the other hand, the latest generation artificial turf football fields offer an optimal regularity if the maintenance is correct, as is the case in the Cornellà field.
The manager of Sports & Landscape recalled that the sector has been greatly affected by the current crisis and also by storms like the past Gloria, so he asks for a bit of tact when making certain statements. “In Catalonia we have more than 700 artificial turf fields, it is where the activity of all Catalan and amateur football teams takes place. Natural turf is not within the reach of these teams,” he added.
Sports & Landscape markets and installs the prestigious brand of artificial turf JUTAgrass, having installed more than 185.000 square meters in just two years. The artificial turf of the Cornellà field is not JUTAgrass and Sports & Landscape has not installed it, but the project was carried out by Ignasi Senabre with the company for which he worked before.