Federation International of Football Associations
FIFA has established a network of accredited laboratories for the purpose of testing and certifying the compliance of synthetic soccer pitches. Acousto-Scan Pty Ltd is one of the accredited laboratories and offers a testing service on a worldwide basis. Testing of synthetic soccer pitches is carried out by the Laboratory to the specifications contained in the FIFA Standard.
Acousto-Scan is accredited as a Field Test Institute.
FIFA Quality Program for Football Turf FIFA Field Testing Manual, 2015
https://football-technology.fifa.com/en/standards/football-turf/
FIFA Recommended Quality Pro (Two Star)
FIFA Recommended Quality Pro certification is valid for twelve months.
Following the decision of the International Football Association Board in July 2004 to introduce artificial surfaces into the Laws of The Game the FIFA Quality Concept has been further developed by introducing two categories of performance.
FIFA Recommended Quality Pro is the professional category and has been established to ensure fields meeting it replicate the playing qualities of the best quality natural turf pitches. This category is intended for clubs and national federation teams wishing to play competitive matches subject to the relevant competition rules allowing the use of Football Turf or undertake training on Football Turfs.
FIFA Recommended Quality (One Star)
FIFA Recommended Quality certification is valid for four years.
The FIFA Recommended Quality category has slightly wider bands of acceptability and is primarily aimed at organisations wishing to provide facilities for training and community use, although fields meeting this category of performance may also be used for competitive play (subject to the relevant competition rules).
The relevant tests can be summarised from the Manual as follows.
Player/Surface Interaction
Determination of Football Rebound
Determination of Angle Ball Rebound
Determination of Ball Roll
Determination of Shock Absorption
Determination of Standard Vertical Deformation
Determination of Energy Restitution
Determination of Rotational Resistance
Determination of Skin / Surface Friction & Skin Abrasion
Procedure for Artificial Weathering
Procedure for assessment of synthetic infill
Procedure for the assessment of surface planarity
Procedure for the determination of heat on artificial turf products
Procedure for the determination of wear on artificial turf
Procedure to determine the quantity of infill splash
Procedure for determination of reduced ball roll
Procedure for measuring free pile height
Procedure for the determination of UV stabilizer content in artificial turf yarn
Procedure to determine the particle size distribution of granulated infill materials (FIFA 20)
Procedure for the measurement of infill depth (FIFA Test Method 21)
Procedure for the measurement of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) (FIFA method 22)
Procedure for the determination of decitex of yarns (FIFA Method 23)
Procedure for the determination of the infiltration rate of artificial turf systems FIFA 24)
Procedure for the measurement of yarn thickness (FIFA Method 25)
Constructional Requirements
Slope
Test method: EN 22768
Criterion: in any direction < 1.0 %
Evenness
Test method: EN 22768
Criterion: 3.0 m planimeter < 10 mm
Field tests
For Pitch Compliance testing, arrangements are usually made about 3 months before a pitch is installed, or, if it is an existing pitch, a shorter lead time may be convenient depending on the Laboratory’s workload. The testing usually takes about 12 hr on-site work and is subject to weather conditions. A report can be obtained within the next two weeks.
The client must supply the FIFA Laboratory Test Number from FIFA for the installed product before field testing will commence.
The test report that will also be forwarded to FIFA, Switzerland for registration.
