Bank of America Stadium installs natural grass for Gold Cup matches

Once again, it’s the fútbol players—not the football players—who will be playing on natural grass at Bank of America Stadium.

[anyclip pubname=”2103″ widgetname=”0016M00002U0B1kQAF_M8036″]

The grass vs. turf saga continues over at 800 South Mint Street.

As noted by Carroll R. Walton of The Charlotte Ledger on Tuesday, natural grass has been installed at Bank of America Stadium for this weekend’s Concacaf Gold Cup matches. The home of the Carolina Panthers will play host to two matchups on Sunday—one between the United States and Trinidad and Tobago and the other between Honduras and Haiti.

Given that Tepper Sports and Entertainment uses a turf playing surface for its Panthers game, which is widely unfavorable amongst NFL players due to safety concerns, this move to grass has begun to draw the ire of fans. And it’s not the first time they’ve laid out the good stuff for a premier soccer event, as last summer’s friendly between Charlotte FC and visiting Chelsea F.C. also got the green carpet treatment.

Back in April, the NFL Players Association ripped the organization for its use of turf—specifically citing the frigid conditions of Carolina’s Week 16 meeting with the Detroit Lions. President J.C. Tretter wrote the following about the ‘unacceptable’ surface:

We currently have a single test for all field surfaces called the “Clegg” test, which simply measures a field’s hardness. While we are working diligently and collaboratively with the NFL’s engineering experts to devise more advanced ways to measure field performance and safety, this test is all that we currently have. However, even this simple measure was too much for the NFL to adhere to when push came to shove in Carolina.

Last year on Christmas Eve, Carolina’s field failed the Clegg test. For a surface to pass this test, it must measure below 100g (units of gravities), and the meter for this test goes up to a maximum of 150g. When the field in Carolina was tested during the pregame check, it came back as — you guessed it — 150g.

Players reached out and told us the field was way too hard, describing it as concrete. Players reported that they couldn’t even wear cleats because they wouldn’t sink into the turf. When we reached out to the league, they told us they were aware of these concerns and were working to remedy them.

However, instead of delaying the game or finding another way to fix the issue, the league gave the green light to kick off the game as scheduled. Afterward, the league told us that late in the first half, the field finally did fall below the 100g max. But the fact remains that the players in that game had to play on a field that the league acknowledges was not safe. That is beyond frustrating to players and unacceptable in the eyes of our union.

But, if you want to see some acceptable conditions, Sunday’s Gold Cup contests kick off at 7:00 p.m. ET.

[lawrence-related id=676540,676535,676525]