Stadium Management South Africa (SMSA) has provided a candid timeline for when the FNB Stadium pitch will be fully back to its new and improved standard.
SMSA CEO Bertie Grobbelaar awarded the SA Football Journalist Association members an opportunity to inspect the pitch ahead of the Betway Premiership encounter between Kaizer Chiefs and Polokwane City at the venue on Wednesday night.
Grobbelaar confirmed that the condition of the pitch is good enough to host a football match, despite the undesirable covering on the north side of the ground, which is similar to Orlando Stadium.
“It deserves no explanation, but at the end of last season, we all saw that the FNB Stadium pitch was not up to the normal standard, and with our pitch maintenance company Sporturf, we then got international experts on the hybrid pitch model to come and advise us,” said Grobbelaar.
“The plan was to replace the pitch at the end of the 2026 season, but the recommendation was that [the previous pitch] would not last another season.
“So, we met with the City of Johannesburg and discussed the commercials and then instructed the company to proceed with the refurbishment of the pitch.”
Pitch will be fully ready in September
Grobbelaar said the pitch’s condition forced them to start over for the next season, but it will be done by early September.
“We took out the whole pitch – started with silicone sand to bring in new sand and take out all the old stuff – and started reseeding, and two weeks ago the grass master stitching machine arrived, and they did the [artificial] fibre stitching.
“Normally, a process like this takes four months to complete, but we have been working with this company for 10 weeks.”
“They started on May 28, and there’s still a bit of work to be done [before tonight’s match], but I’m delighted with what they achieved in these 10 weeks.
“Based on my assessment and expert advice, I predict the FNB Stadium pitch will be up to scratch by early September.”
