Marcelo Paz admits Neo Química pitch issues before Corinthians v Inter | OneFootball

After criticism over the condition of the Neo Química Arena pitch during Corinthians’ 0-0 draw with Athletico-PR last Thursday (30), in the 21st round of the Brazilian Championship, the club’s football executive, Marcelo Paz, spoke out about the situation.

In a video released by Corinthians TV this Friday (31), the official admitted that the field is below the expected standard and assured that a task force has already been launched to improve conditions before the clash against Internacional in the Copa do Brasil round of 16.

Photo: Disclosure / Corinthians TV

The pitch conditions drew complaints from players, coaching staff, and fans after the match. During the game, Yuri Alberto left the field with pain in the back of his thigh, while Zakaria Labyad had to be taken off on a stretcher after suffering a knee injury.

According to Marcelo Paz, Corinthians was also caught off guard by the performance of the new pitch, which underwent a complete replacement during the break for the World Cup.

“Hello everyone, we’re here at Neo Química Arena after yesterday’s game against Athletico Paranaense to give fair and necessary explanations to the fans and the media as a whole about the poor performance of the pitch. We recognize that the pitch is not at the ideal standard. In the first half of the year, it was slippery, there was slime underneath it, and it needed to be replaced, which had not been done for some years. The company that has taken care of the pitch since the creation of Neo Química Arena, which has an office inside the stadium, agronomists, and equipment, understood that the best time to do it was now in winter, because this is a winter grass. The pitch was completely replaced and remodeled, and it was expected that by the time matches returned, starting with the game against Remo, the pitch would already perform better. Unfortunately, that did not happen. Grass is a living thing, and the development that was expected did not happen, and we had this problem especially in the game against Athletico Paranaense.

Today I went to speak with the company, demand a solution from them, and they acknowledged the mistake, acknowledged that things did not go as planned, and there was a general commitment here from the Arena management, the company, and the club’s football department to carry out a task force over the next six days so that by the game against Internacional the pitch will already be better, in better condition, and continue improving until the Neo Química Arena pitch becomes the best in Brazil again, as it always has been.

We recognize that there was a problem, the plan initially drawn up by the company did not happen as necessary, and we in football were also caught by surprise, so to speak, because this was not the expectation. So now we are joining forces, acknowledging the situation, and looking for a solution so that for the game against Internacional the pitch will already be better, and over the next matches we can get back to being the pitch we have always been, a spectacular pitch. That is what we want, and that is how we are going to work together with the company and with the management of Neo Química Arena.”

Before Marcelo Paz’s statement, Neo Química Arena operations manager Marcio de Luna had also explained that the winter pitch replacement was carried out for the first time since the stadium’s inauguration and that the company responsible for maintenance had already been called in to fix the problems presented.

Corinthians return to action at Neo Química Arena next Thursday (6) at 8 p.m. (Brasília time), when they host Internacional in the second leg of the Copa do Brasil round of 16. Before that, the team faces Colorado this Sunday (2) at 7:30 p.m. (Brasília time) at Beira-Rio in the first leg of the tie.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.