RFPL Official Statement

On 2 April FUR and RFPL joint Commission on football pitch approval took decision to approve the pitch of Arsenal Stadium in Tula for the SOGAZ-Russian Football Championship MD-21 match between FC Arsenal and FC Torpedo.

The minutes of the meeting states: “The football pitch is mostly even. The grass is irregular. There are some bold patches across the pitch. The temperature 10 cm deep is +15, which is not enough for steady growth of the grass. The root system of grass is not deep. The grassy turf is forming in accordance with weather conditions. Some particular parts of the pitch show stability problem for movements.  Underseeding of grass in the requested amount has not been done.”

In spite of the serious nonconformancies, the FUR Commission took decision “…to approve the football pitch (grass turf) of Arsenal Stadium (Tula) for the Russian Football Championship match on 05 April 2015 between PFC Arsenal and Torpedo-Moscow…”.

The representative of the Russian Football Premier League voted against such decision, as it endangers not only health of the both teams players and does not allow to arrange a TV-broadcasting of the match in appropriate quality, but also can bring to damaging of the turf.

Taking into consideration that media has published the pictures of the pitch which do not show its real condition, Russian Football Premier League would like to offer an opportunity to see the real situation at Arsenal Stadium for all those who wish.