LFP ramps up Ligue 1 pitch monitoring amid heatwave | OneFootball

France’s heatwave has put professional pitches at higher risk of disease, so the LFP has teamed up with Montpellier-based lab IAGE to help clubs anticipate outbreaks and move towards eliminating synthetic phytosanitary products. These chemicals are considered potentially dangerous, with suspicions of links to cancers and neurodegenerative diseases.

According to L'Équipe, managers of professional facilities hold an exemption until 30 June, which will be renewed as no technical alternative has been found. Jérémy Di Mattia of IAGE warns that high temperatures favour fungi such as pyricularia that can strike during the crucial renovation period.

With the season over, many stadium surfaces are being restored or replaced for next term, and IAGE has developed early biological diagnostics to detect pathogens. Based in Montpellier, the lab has seen pyriculariose regularly hit the Mosson, and the disease has moved north in France, with FC Nantes affected in 2018, one consequence of climate change.

The plan is to use IAGE’s molecular biology technologies to help clubs anticipate disease, protect playing quality and limit treatments. Health audits are scheduled in 18 stadiums and 6 training centres, with AJ Auxerre, Le Havre AC, FC Lorient, Olympique Lyonnais, Olympique de Marseille, FC Nantes, Paris FC, Stade Rennais, RC Strasbourg-Alsace, ESTAC and Toulouse FC among those signed up.

Di Mattia says around 15 pre-renovation audits have already been completed, timely amid temperatures more typical of July or August, enabling tailored support per site. The system identifies pathogens and risk levels weeks before symptoms via molecular analyses of turf, roots and substrate, then sets preventive strategies.

The programme, described as unique in Europe for its scale and science, aims to deliver reliable indicators by the end of 2026 to advance towards a zero-phyto target. Exemptions currently apply only for curative needs until alternatives exist, and safety and competition integrity must not be compromised.

Source: L'Équipe