Agronomist discusses Neo Química Arena pitch recovery, assures playability

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Central do Timão

·10. September 2025

Agronomist discusses Neo Química Arena pitch recovery, assures playability

By Henrique Pereira / Central do Timão Editorial Team

The Neo Química Arena is starting to return to normal after hosting an NFL game between the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs last Friday, the 5th. Despite the impact caused by the American football game, the condition of the pitch does not worry the stadium's management, who are working hard to prepare it for the match between Corinthians and Athletico Paranaense this Wednesday at 9:30 pm, for the Copa do Brasil.

In an interview with Meu Timão, João Paulo de Abreu, an agronomist engineer from World Sports, said that the disassembly of the NFL structure began immediately after the Chargers' victory, and the field recovery work is progressing rapidly. The expectation is that the paint marks will completely disappear by the game against Flamengo, scheduled for September 28, for the Brasileirão.

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Photo: Anderson Soncini/Central do Timão

"We started working on the field early on Friday, worked through the night, another team arrived at seven in the morning on Saturday, we also worked Saturday night into Sunday. It's the first night I'm basically at home here, I was sleeping at the Neo Química Arena, on a little sofa in my office. But it's been a lot of hard work, our expectation is that this paint will be completely removed from the grass for the game against Flamengo, which is at the end of the month.", he began.

"There might still be a little something visible, but this paint is specific for grass, so it wouldn't kill the grass, the only problem is that they paint a lot, so it's a very thick layer of paint in these areas. Last year it was easier, because the endzone was black, because of the Eagles team, so it was a bit easier to hide.", the engineer continued.

This year, the challenge to erase the marks was greater because of the colors used. While in the previous edition the black paint of the endzone helped to camouflage the wear and tear, this time the combination of light blue, yellow and red made the job more complicated.

"This year, as it was light blue, and especially the other side, which was yellow with red, we kind of have a certain problem, we used that scrub, used wap, pressure washer, used hose, everything you can imagine we have tried, and even so it still remains, it's still bothering, but let's see how it will be, the marks will still be visible for this Wednesday's game, and very likely also for the game on Sunday as well", explained João Paulo.

In addition to the paint removal, the stadium underwent two important modifications since the criticisms received last year. The management of the Neo Química Arena implemented new synthetic fibers in the grass to increase its resistance and reduced the volume of irrigation to meet the NFL's requirements.

"There were two. We had the fiber. It's a stitching of a synthetic thread, which basically serves to give better structure to the grass, so it's stitched, it's like a giant sewing machine, it injects this fiber there in a layer of about 18 centimeters from the ground. This fiber enters the ground and comes out, then two centimeters to the side, it enters the ground and comes out. You can even see the tip of the fiber in the ground, if you open the grass, but it's very imperceptible because it's below the grass blade.", commented the professional.

"When it starts to descend, it intertwines in this fiber and improves what we call the traction of the grass. It becomes less slippery for both football boots, which tend to be a boot and have smaller studs than American football, but it also helped in this issue for the NFL game in the traction of the type of boot they use.", he continued.

"The second factor they were very concerned about was the issue of irrigation. Not that it was bad last year, but from what the NFL people passed on to us, it came out in their international media, in the American media, that the field was very wet and that's why it was slippery. So this year we held back the irrigation a bit more, left the field a bit drier, in a way that wouldn't damage the grass, kill the grass, but also not leave it too wet. That was their second concern, but basically the difference was these two, the fiber and the amount of irrigation that was done", detailed João Paulo.

Despite visually still being different from usual, the engineer affirms that the grass is in full condition for the game and the ball should roll normally both for the match against Athletico-PR, this Wednesday, 10, for the quarterfinals of the Copa do Brasil, and for the final of the Women's Brasileirão, next Sunday, 14, when the Brabas face Cruzeiro.

"The grass suffers quite a bit after the NFL game, not in terms of game quality, what suffered more this year was in the parts where they are painted. So the endzone, the sides of the field, which is a much wider white line, and the middle, the center of the field has the NFL logo. Basically what we are having more work to fix and will have more work to fix, will be these parts than the rest of the grass. The grass responded very well to the game", explained João.

"In relation to this, people can rest assured, the Corinthians players can rest assured that the ball roll and the quality will be very good. It won't be perfect, mainly because of the visual part, but the playability of the grass is very good and will continue to be very good for the next Corinthians games. Both the men's and the women's, which also have a game right after on Sunday", he concluded.

Corinthians take the field this Wednesday at 9:30 pm, with an advantage after winning the first leg 1-0 in Curitiba. The expectation is that the pitch will remain among the best in the country, according to João Paulo de Abreu.

"I believe it still is. If you take the playability part, all parameters are within what was already being achieved before the game, what we had was a little more compaction in the central region of the field, but the soil decompaction has already been done today.", he said.

"I measured it with the equipment right after, so it's back to the standard that Corinthians likes there, which is what we use based on the FIFA manual itself. Visually it won't be among the top three, but in terms of playability it certainly continues to be one of the best in the country yes", the professional concluded.

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