SANDERSON. pitches were associated with a lot of injuries (Photo: Andrew Hancel)

BACOLET, Tobago - Dr Mark Sanderson, team doctor on tour with Jamaica's Under-17 women's football team, believes any move to popularise artificial turf in football will only serve to increase the rate of injuries to players.

In a Sporting World exclusive Sanderson, a medical doctor of 14 years, said the proposed study on incidents of injuries to players on artificial turf versus natural grass, is primarily for financial reasons as football nations seek ways of slashing field maintenance costs.

"Originally, what caused a lot of concerns with players are that the pitches were first generation, which were associated with a lot of injuries, soft tissues, burns, as well as bony injuries," said Sanderson, who has been working with national football teams since 1995. "Now with the third generation, it is supposedly said that these injuries will decrease. I think personally though that it's being done on a financial basis, in terms of more developed countries, which basically exists in climates where it's harder to maintain a natural pitch and it costs more," he said.

The Sports Foundation Ethics Committee, an organisation that falls under the ambit of FIFA, football's world governing body, has been given the green light to conduct a study that will compare the rate of injuries on "third generation" artificial surface against natural grass fields.

Three tournaments, the ongoing CONCACAF Women's Under-17 Championships being played in Trinidad and Tobago and the upcoming Caribbean Football Union (CFU) Under-15 and Under-17 Girls' and Men's tournaments, respectively, have been selected as part of the study.

During the three tournaments, a total of 27 matches will be played on artificial grass as against 35 games on natural surfaces, allowing researchers to document and produce an accurate analysis.

However, Doctor Sanderson is arguing that the study should be "scientifically" done.

Synthetic pitches are made from waste rubber, Sanderson said, while pointing that on a sunny day that's 35 degrees celsius in the ambient and "on the pitch it might actually be 42 degrees" celsius, which can cause several serious heat-related concerns for players.

If this holds true, youth players stand to suffer the most, and overall, players will more often than not perform below optimum levels.

The advent of synthetic pitches grew rapidly during the 1980s in Europe and North America, but FIFA and the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) placed a ban on such surfaces after many players complain about the hardness of the surface and sustained frequent joint injuries.

Many countries and clubs would later adopt the state-of-the-art natural grass, genetically modified to withstand cold temperatures, but high cost of maintaining natural surfaces and cancelled winter matches became grave cause for concern.

Subsequently, the issue of resurrecting the use of artificial turfs gained traction once more with UEFA and FIFA demonstrating willingness to allow the use of false turfs thanks to technological evolution that seems to have resolved the old problems.

Two domestic clubs in Europe have now opted to use synthetic turfs after successful tests by FIFA and UEFA were approved last year.

It is also said that third generation artificial turfs are "often virtually indistinguishable" from natural grass and just as safe to play on. But Sanderson rubbished such claims.

"Remember apart from the goalkeeper the rest of the players aren't well clothed, so there still is going to be a significant risk of them having burnt injuries," he said.

"It's going to make the game less attractive, because players still complain about the bounce of the ball on the hard surface. Players tend to play more cautious on artificial turf because of the frequency and severity of injuries.

"Fans have difficulty adapting to the glare from this type of surface, which is taking something away from the game."

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