BVB: Dortmund makes important lawn decision

The Dortmund professionals and their pitch in the “temple” Signal Iduna Park – recently they were each other no longer “green”…

Central defender Nico Schlotterbeck (24) complained after the 1-0 win in the Champions League against Graz: “I’ve been here for two and a half years. The place was always sparkling clean. And we’ve had a bit of problems since the European Championships.”

Midfield strategist Marcel Sabitzer (30) said: “Unfortunately the pitch here is not in a very good condition either, that doesn’t make it any easier for the muscle groups.”

Now the club is taking action: the bumpy turf is being thrown out – Dortmund lay a new carpet!

According to BILD information, the home game against Freiburg (November 23rd) will feature a new hybrid turf.

BVB has played home games on a mix of real and artificial turf since 2016. In the 2019/20 season, the underground was in such good shape that the DFL named it place of the year. Hybrid is about twice as expensive as natural grass (around 150,000 euros), but also more durable!

But why is the place suddenly like this? bad?

Dortmund’s stadium boss Dr. Christian Hockenjos (61/Head of Organization) to BILD: “The European Championship games in the Signal Iduna Park took place on hybrid turf.” Both in the games between Turkey and Georgia (3:1, editor) and There were storms during Germany’s game against Denmark (2-0, editor). We do have top drainage, but actually the place should have been treated afterwards. But that didn’t work because there was another game three days later.”

Not the only problem caused by the home European Championships. Hockenjos: “After the Euro we actually wanted to use a hybrid turf again.” However, the time until the start of the season was too short for sowing – as is usual during the summer break in Dortmund. Since there was no hybrid turf available on the market at the time, we had to use natural turf.”

Which was later affected by root rot and therefore had to be replaced again with new natural turf before the home game against Bochum (4:2/end of September).

Now the new hybrid carpet should finally solve all the problems!

Teaser image — Source: PICTURE11/11/2024