Artificial grass woven into real turf at World Cup

DENDERMONDE, Belgium (AP)—Artificial grass is teaming up with the natural stuff and taking root at the World Cup, blade by blade.

A generation after fully artificial surfaces outraged football fans and players around the world, this year’s World Cup in South Africa will debut a surface with 20 million threads of synthetic grass fibers woven in between and beneath the natural grass.

The first World Cup test of the surface, which is already being used at some major stadiums in Europe, will be on June 13 in Polokwane when Algeria plays Slovenia. The stadium in Nelspruit will also use the same type of turf.

“It will be a World Cup premiere,” said Marc Vercammen, the general manager of Desso Sports Systems, which produces the surface.

Natural grass still predominates. The artificial threads are driven 20 centimeters (8 inches) into the surface and intertwine with the roots of the real grass to give the surface a smooth robustness that tackles—or even pop concerts—find hard to undo.

Desso, a company headquartered about 35 kilometers (22 miles) outside Brussels, has already graced the fields of Arsenal and Liverpool and the training grounds of Real Madrid, among others. Its GrassMaster system is also used by the Denver Broncos and the Philadelphia Eagles.

No competition, however, compares to the World Cup.

“Our image will go into territory where we haven’t gone before,” Vercammen said......read more