FOXBOROUGH, Mass., July 25, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Gillette Stadium's FieldTurf surface has earned the prestigious FIFA 2-Star recommended status. Home to Major League Soccer's New England Revolution for soccer matches and the New England Patriots for football, Gillette Stadium has proven to be the ideal multi-purpose venue with a field that has been designed specifically to mirror the playing characteristics of professional soccer, in addition to football. The FIFA 2-Star designation re-affirms the quality of the Gillette Stadium FieldTurf and its ability to host the highest level of international soccer competitions.
The FIFA Recommended 2-Star designation is the highest synthetic turf rating from FIFA and is issued after a battery of tests are performed by a FIFA approved testing agent. FIFA final round competitions and top UEFA competitions have the FIFA Recommended 2-Star in their respective competition regulations.
"This FIFA 2-Star designation is great for our venue," stated Jim Nolan, Vice President of Operations for Gillette Stadium. "Our FieldTurf has provided consistent performance for an array of events, including a wide variety of professional and amateur sporting events like soccer, football and lacrosse as well as various non-sporting events. Having a field that is certified to host the highest level of FIFA soccer matches speaks volumes about the quality of our FieldTurf surface."
"FieldTurf has long been at the forefront of developing the world's finest artificial turf for soccer and for all sports," said FieldTurf Tarkett CEO Joe Fields. "We are happy that Gillette Stadium's FieldTurf surface has passed FIFA's rigorous testing procedures. Our turf is designed to outperform the most stringent of testing and provides excellent footing and ball-roll characteristics that are ideal for professional soccer players."
In addition to being the home of the New England Patriots (NFL) and the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer (MLS), Gillette hosts a variety of other special events, including concerts. The record-breaking 8-day FieldTurf installation in November 2006 gave Gillette the safest and most consistent playing surface in the world.
Several North American professional soccer teams play their home games on FieldTurf. The New England Revolution (MLS), Toronto FC (MLS), Real Salt Lake (MLS), Seattle Sounders (USL), Rochester Rhinos (USL), and Atlanta Silverbacks (USL) have all opted to play their home matches on the industry's best soccer-specific turf system. From June 30th - July 22nd, 2007 the world's elite young soccer talents competed in the FIFA U-20 World Cup Canada 2007. 24 teams from around the world made history as they participated in the first FIFA World Cup ever to be played on artificial turf. Almost half of the 52 matches including the quarterfinals, semifinals and finals were featured on FieldTurf.
FieldTurf was the very first artificial surface to attain FIFA Recommended status due to its superior grass-like performance, which soccer players prefer. FieldTurf was the 1st artificial pitch to host a UEFA Cup Qualifying Round (Torpedo, Moscow); and the 1st to host a FIFA Soccer Tournament (Jeux de la Francophonie). FieldTurf has passed the international governing body's most stringent testing and has more FIFA Recommended pitches than anyone else. For more information on FieldTurf, please visit www.fieldturf.com