World champions Germany will enjoy a brand new pitch on Sunday in their EURO 2016 round of 16 match in Lille. UEFA revealed today, that the pitch at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy will be changed after the Wednesday-evening match between Italy and Ireland. The final training session will take place on Saturday on the fresh turf.
This is a reaction by UEFA to the heavy criticism of the state of the pitch at Lille’s EUO 2016 stadium. The "extremely difficult" weather of the past few weeks “has caused irreversible damage”, UEFA explains.
Pitch playable from Friday afternoon
The new pitch is coming from the Netherlands, meaning that they will at least make some small contribution to this tournament. The pitch will be playable from Friday afternoon. . A quarter final will take place in the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, as well as Germany’s round of 16 match.
After the 0-0 draw between hosts France and Switzerland on 19th June, both managers criticised the condition of the pitch. The Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic called it a “disgrace”.
This is not a new problem for UEFA: during EURO 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, bad weather made a pitch change in the Basler St. Jakobs-Park unavoidable.
World champions Germany will enjoy a brand new pitch on Sunday in their EURO 2016 round of 16 match in Lille. UEFA revealed today, that the pitch at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy will be changed after the Wednesday-evening match between Italy and Ireland. The final training session will take place on Saturday on the fresh turf.
This is a reaction by UEFA to the heavy criticism of the state of the pitch at Lille’s EUO 2016 stadium. The "extremely difficult" weather of the past few weeks “has caused irreversible damage”, UEFA explains.
Pitch playable from Friday afternoon
The new pitch is coming from the Netherlands, meaning that they will at least make some small contribution to this tournament. The pitch will be playable from Friday afternoon. . A quarter final will take place in the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, as well as Germany’s round of 16 match.
After the 0-0 draw between hosts France and Switzerland on 19th June, both managers criticised the condition of the pitch. The Switzerland coach Vladimir Petkovic called it a “disgrace”.
This is not a new problem for UEFA: during EURO 2008 in Austria and Switzerland, bad weather made a pitch change in the Basler St. Jakobs-Park unavoidable.
