Dutch football clubs switching to artificial turf

Almost half of the football clubs in the premier league and almost all the clubs in the Jupiler League does not want a prohibition on playing on artificial turf in the premier league. Most clubs want to maintain artificial turf as it is much cheaper than natural grass. The six artificial turfs in the premier league are an eyesore for top clubs Ajax, Feyenoord and PSV, as no other European top competition play on artificial turf. The trio is supported by AZ, Go Ahead Eagles, sc Heerenveen and FC Utrecht. NAC and Willem II also want to remove the turf if there is a support fund for clubs who can not afford natural grass. It was expected that this issue would be discussed today at the general meeting of professional football of the KNVB. On Monday however, NOS reported that the subject is not on the agenda. Martin van Geel, technical director of Feyenoord, announced last month that he wanted to make a proposal to ban play on artificial turf in the premier league. According to a spokesperson for the club, this issue is expected to be discussed at the conference on the future of Dutch football on December 15th. There is some controversy about the use of artificial turf. While it is much cheaper to maintain than natural grass, there is a belief that the risk of injury is higher on turf. There is also some early concern that the rubber pellets used on turf might cause lymphoma or leukemia. This is not based on any scientific evidence.