SIS Pitches 'basking' in Fifa World Cup glory
LONDON, July 14, 2018
The Sunday's Football World Cup Final, the first-ever to be staged on a revolutionary hi-tech playing surface, is set to deliver a multi-million pound boost to SIS Pitches, the English firm behind the ground-breaking technology.
The six World Football Cup stadia across Russia using SISGrass are Luzhniki, Spartak, Samara, Kaliningrad, Saransk and Rostov, said the British company in a statement.
Having installed over 80 hybrid surfaces worldwide, including Premier League sides Chelsea, Newcastle United, Fulham and Bournemouth, Scottish champions Celtic and the English FA's St George's Park complex, with Barcelona to follow, SIS Pitches predicts annual revenues will grow from £55 million to £65 million ($73 million to $86 million) in 2019,, it stated.
SIS Pitches installed its hybrid surfaces using patented fibre injection technology with undersoil aeration system in six of the 12 tournament venues, including Moscow's 81,000-capacity Luzhniki Stadium, which will host Sunday's decider between France and Croatia, said a statement from the UK firm.
Luzhniki's pitch uses SISGrass, - 95 per cent natural grass reinforced with 5 per cent synthetic fibres - and SISAir, a unique aeration system capable of removing a deluge of rain from the surface in five seconds, whilst optimising root moisture via a network of undersoil pipes it stated.
SIS Pitches CEO George Mullan said: "With around one billion people expected to watch the final, there's clearly pressure to get the pitch in top condition, despite it being used for over 60 hours - the equivalent of a full Premier League season - in the past five weeks. That would have been impossible on a traditional all-grass pitch."
"Everyone has been raving about the quality of football at this tournament and our pitches have certainly given Modric, Lukaku, Mbappe and Kane a brilliant platform to perform on," remarked Mullan.
"The feedback we've had from everyone involved has been hugely positive. It's the first worldwide showcase for these technologies to be combined at a World Football Cup and it's performed perfectly," he added.
Mullan pointed out that it had received an overwhelming response from professional sports teams in the US and Japan, as well as the enormous American university sector.
"We are prresently installing eight SISGrass pitches in France this summer alone," he stated
Founded in 2001, SIS Pitches employs over 340 staff worldwide, with manufacturing headquarters in Cumbria, England.-TradeArabia News Service
