AFC Asian Cup makes its pitch for World-class playing surfaces

The AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 Local Organising Committee has announced $650,000 worth of upgrades to pitches at stadiums in all five host cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra and Newcastle.

The upgrades are part of a campaign to deliver world-class facilities for the biggest football tournament held in Australia, that will also help deliver an important legacy to football in Australia.

The pitch upgrades will improve the playing surfaces at all 11 training sites for the Asian Cup – two in each host city and an extra one in Sydney for use by referees.

They  include works at Newcastle’s No 2 Sports Ground and Wanderers Oval, Brisbane’s Perry Park, S.S.Anderson Oval in Port Melbourne, Deakin Stadium in Canberra and Sydney’s Leichhardt Oval.

The plan also includes money committed to a major $1.25 million upgrade previously announced at Newcastle’s Asian Cup match venue, Newcastle Stadium.

The Asian Cup LOC and Football Federation Australia also jointly hosting Australia’s first football pitch management conference in Melbourne last week, led by the LOC’s pitch consultants STRI, who also advise wordl football-governing body FIFA and European football-governing body UEFA.

The conference featured international keynote speakers sharing their experiences working across major international football tournaments including the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cup, the 2012 UEFA European Championships and the 2012 London Olympics.

Commenting on the initiatives, Asian Cup Local Organising Committee Chief Executive Michael Brown stated "these developments are an important part of the legacy the Asian Cup will leave for Australian football and have focussed on venues that will be used by football into the future.

“They demonstrate how committed we are to delivering pitches of the highest standard possible for Asia’s biggest football tournament, an event that will be televised to some 800 million people.

“We have set targets that the experts can measure – things like the firmness of the pitch, the height the ball bounces and the smoothness of the roll.

“The decision by the LOC and FFA to invest in Australia’s first pitch management conference is an indication of the importance football places on high quality pitches.”

The AFC Asian Cup is Asia’s biggest football competition and was established in 1956.

The 16 nations to qualify for AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015 are Australia as hosts, defending champions Japan, Korea Republic and 2012 AFC Challenge Cup winners DPR Korea, along with Bahrain, China, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan and Palestine.

The 16 finalists will take part in a 23-day festival of football in five cities which the Socceroos will kick off on 9th January 2015 in Melbourne, with the final set for Sydney’s ANZ Stadium on 31st January next year.

The tournament is being financially supported by the Australian Government and the NSW, Victorian, Queensland and ACT Governments.

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