World Cup 2014: Manaus pitch ‘not perfect but playable’

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/jun/13/manaus-pitch-playable-england-italy-world-cup

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The company that maintains the pitch at the Arena Amazônia in Manaus insist it will be in a “playable” condition for England’s World Cup encounter with Italy on Saturday but concedes it will not be in optimal condition for another week.

Fears were raised about the state of the surface when England arrived, with the pitch appearing patchy and uneven, while a groundsman was spotted apparently applying a green spray to the grass on Thursday.

However, Miguel Bastos, a spokesman for RED who are the company responsible for maintaining the pitch, told Maisfutebol that there everything will be in place by kick-off on Saturday.

“By 22 June, for the game between Portugal and the United States, the pitch will be under optimal conditions,” Bastos told Maisfutebol. “The condition of the pitch at this time is not perfect. But for the England and Italy game on Saturday, we can guarantee that it will be playable. The grass will not be aesthetically beautiful, but will be OK to play on.

“The problems happened because of weather conditions. We have already introduced a vacuum drainage system, which is a special drainage system through a machine that removes water, but we cannot do anything about the climate of the Amazon.”

Bastos went on to outline the problems with maintaining a pitch in such an inaccessible part of Brazil. “It has everything to do with the weather and also the problem of Manaus,” he said. “Manaus is an isolated city in the Amazon, without overland transport – we need to send everything by boat or plane – so when fertilisers never arrive within necessary time, it is a problem.

“RED makes the impossible possible and the lawns are always in perfect condition, but cannot do anything when faced with certain limitations. It is always very difficult to prepare a pitch for a competition in a place where there is usually no competition.”

Bastos also denied that the pitch was being sprayed green to give the impression of a better surface. “Paint the field? It’s a lie,” he said. “What the pictures show is a spray.

“We already know how the British tabloids are. It’s totally fanciful news. These are sprays. It is impossible to paint the grass with a spray of 50 litres. The employee is only to apply the product in the affected areas to grow grass.”