Tarkett backs its World Cup hybrid pitches amid US stadium scrutiny | OneFootball

According to L'Équipe, Tarkett remains relaxed about the three World Cup surfaces it installed, including Boston's Gillette Stadium where France face Norway at 21:00 on Friday, despite scrutiny elsewhere.

France also beat Brazil 2-1 at the same venue in March, on turf laid by the company that looks after Clairefontaine’s pitches used by Kylian Mbappé and his team-mates.

Three of the 16 host stadiums, in Seattle, Atlanta and Boston, use Tarkett’s hybrid grass, and the firm signed extra tournament contracts with the Seahawks, Falcons and Patriots. Criticism has centred on other venues, notably MetLife Stadium.

Vinicius complained the grass there dried quickly and slowed play after Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Morocco, while Adrien Rabiot was harsher after France’s 3-1 win over Senegal. Chief executive Eddy Schmitt said key hurdles were tight timelines and arenas built for synthetics.

He said Seattle, Atlanta and Boston had around two or three months for the grass to root, yet MetLife’s lay began on 6 May, only 39 days before its first game. The process stitches about 20 million fibres per pitch in roughly 10 days.

After Norway’s 4-1 win over Iraq in Boston on 16 June, coach Stale Solbakken felt the pitch was very dry and the ball stuck. Tarkett blamed a broken sprinkler at half-time, which forced watering to be halted.

Schmitt said the technology mirrors Clairefontaine’s and that conditions vary with heat and humidity. He hopes the tournament nudges hybrid uptake, but accepts synthetics dominate. The hybrids will be removed after the World Cup, with recycling possible but their future unclear.

Source: L'Équipe