AFC 'kills' artificial turf fields at Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers

TPO - The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has just issued a decision to completely remove artificial turf fields made from 100% synthetic fibers from the system of major continental tournaments, starting from August 2025.

Artificial turf will be banned by AFC in many tournaments.

According to an announcement from AFC, there have been many complaints recently about the uneven quality of the pitches at some competition venues, especially those using artificial turf.

Opinions from players, coaches and technical experts have emphasized that this difference significantly affects the playing experience, professional quality and health of the players.

On that basis, AFC officially issued a new regulation: from August 2025, stadiums using artificial turf surfaces made entirely from synthetic fibers (100% synthetic fibers) will not be allowed to host matches in many continental tournaments.

Tournaments under the AFC system that will ban artificial pitches include: AFC Asian Cup final qualifying round, AFC Asian Cup women's qualifying round, FIFA World Cup qualifiers (from qualifying round 2 onwards), women's Olympic qualifiers, AFC Champions League Elite, AFC Champions League Two and AFC Champions League women.

The AFC stressed that this decision is part of the AFC's long-term strategy to improve competition standards and create optimal competition conditions for players in the region's top tournaments.

The Vietnam Football Federation affirmed that it will continue to closely monitor technical recommendations from the AFC and proactively coordinate with localities, stadium management boards as well as clubs to ensure that the playing field fully meets the requirements in organizing and hosting international football events.

Trong Dat

Source: https://tienphong.vn/afc-khai-tu-san-co-nhan-tao-tai-asian-cup-va-vong-loai-world-cup-post1750960.tpo