The president of Cuiabá, Cristiano Dresch, has expressed his support for the ban on the use of synthetic grass in Brazilian stadiums. According to Dresch, teams that opt for synthetic grass gain a competitive advantage during competitions. The issue came to the fore again after a virtual meeting between the CBF and the 20 Serie A clubs.
Cuiabá takes part in a meeting on artificial grass
During the meeting, the clubs in favor and against presented technical and scientific arguments to support their positions. Currently, Athletico, Botafogo and Palmeiras have synthetic grass pitches.
Christiano Dresch said he believes in an immediate ban on synthetic grass in Brazil. He highlighted the significant competitive advantage that teams using this type of pitch have, noting the difficulties faced by players unfamiliar with this surface, which has a direct impact on results. The president considers the financial justifications for keeping synthetic turf to be invalid, claiming that such reasons should not prevail.
“I think synthetic turf should be banned in Brazil as soon as possible. It’s a huge competitive advantage for those who play on it. It’s very difficult for players who aren’t used to playing on this type of grass to adapt, which directly influences the result. Those who use the artificial pitch for financial reasons to raise more money for the stadium, and other things that use these justifications to be able to continue using synthetic grass, I think are invalid,” said the president of the Mato Grosso club.
Although there is no possibility of a veto at the moment, visiting clubs will have the opportunity to hold a training session in the stadium with artificial grass on the eve of the Brasileirão matches. Cuiabá will make their debut in the national competition against Athlético Paranaense, away from home. The first match at the Arena Pantanal will be on matchday 2, against Vitória.
Other comments from the President
Cristiano emphasized the importance of constant investment in improving the natural pitches in order to maintain a standard of excellence on the pitches. He pointed out that, this season, Cuiabá has taken responsibility for the maintenance of the Arena Pantanal pitch, investing significantly in machinery. The president stressed the need to play top-level soccer on natural pitches, rejecting the use of synthetic pitches which, according to him, provide a considerable competitive advantage and increase the risk of injury to players.
“It’s true that in Brazil there is a difficulty in improving natural pitches, but it’s not something difficult to do. At the Pantanal Arena, for example, the Cuiabá tripled its investment precisely to leave the pitch in optimum condition. High-level soccer needs to be played on natural grass and not on a plastic pitch, which ends up bringing a huge competitive advantage and allows these teams to always get several points during the championship, making life easier for them in Serie A, not to mention a greater risk of injury to the players,” he added.
