EDDIE IZZARD

LETTERS
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A game changer – the new FIFA regulations
As readers of Sports Management will
know, football’s world governing body
FIFA has issued a major update of its
FIFA Quality Programme for Football
Turf. These are the requirements which
regulate the use of artificial turf in
football at all levels of the game.
The updated manuals contain new
tests and new requirements all aimed at
enhancing the performance and durability
of artificial turf used for the game.
What readers should particularly note
is a significant big-ticket item – a new
accelerated wear machine – which is used
to condition the samples being tested by
ageing them significantly.
This is a game changer for FIFA
Licencees who manufacture these type
of products, in effect meaning that all the
previous registered ‘systems’ that FIFA has
recorded (reported to be 1,600) will now
need to be at least in part re-examined
within a year – the grace period given by
FIFA to update any turf system which may
require field-testing.
There are many changes contained
within the new manual – new tests added
to the requirements, including samples
being tested for the first time for infill
splash and the heating properties of
the turf system. Those involved in the
artificial turf industry should make an
urgent point of familiarising themselves
with these new requirements.
Eric O’Donnell, managing director,
Sports Labs
The new regulations affect artificial pitches at all levels – from grassroots to elite sport
MIKKEL BIGANDT/SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
Minister must
make good on her
promises to sport
Sports minister Tracey Crouch
At goalball UK, we oversee a small but
thriving disability sport for the visually
impaired. We’re expanding rapidly and
a fleet of volunteers keep clubs running
and tournaments organised.
Our GB teams have achieved success
and are aiming for Tokyo 2020.
More importantly, our players benefit
from a community which gives them the
skills and confidence to thrive. Young
players are 47 per cent more likely
than the rest of their visually impaired
peers to be in full-time employment
or education, so for many, goalball has
meant the difference between a career
and a life reliant on benefits.
I read with interest that minister for
sport, Tracey Crouch, reiterated her
promise not to measure the success
of sports on participation and medals
alone. Her view that the government’s
new sports strategy will look
at the overall value of sport, including
improving health and educational
outcomes, is the right one.
The minister’s speech about this could
have been written about goalball and
if we’re to reach more than the 1 per
cent of visually impaired people who
currently have access to the sport, it’s
crucial the new strategy reflects the
realities of modern disability sport and
that her promises become a reality.
Mike Reilly, CEO, Goalball UK
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sportsmanagement.co.uk issue 4 2015 © Cybertrek 2015