Hong Kong Football Club's new state-of-the-art artificial pitch will go under the microscope this week. The synthetic surface will be tested to see if it is suitable to play internationals in both rugby and soccer.
If up to the specifications laid down by the IRB and Fifa (world governing bodies in rugby and soccer respectively), the $5 million pitch will be able to host top-quality games including internationals according to Football Club's sports manager Tony Sealy.
'We have just completed the pitch and the initial feedback has been very positive. We will now get the pitch passed by inspectors who do tests for both the IRB and Fifa. I'm quietly confident that the pitch will be accredited and be able to host internationals in both sports,'' Sealy said yesterday.
The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union, which has scheduled the 19th Asian Championship later this month - including the finals - at the Sports Road venue, has placed Aberdeen Stadium and So Kon Po on standby in case the new facility does not come up to scratch. 'We have scheduled the Asian tournament to be played at King's Park as well as at Football Club. Both are artificial surfaces and new IRB regulations which have come into effect need the grounds to be approved. If they are not found suitable, then the games will be switched to Aberdeen and So Kon Po,' said Allan Payne, HKRFU executive director.
But Simon Bach, general manager of Sports Technology, the company which built the Football Club pitch, was confident that the Australian laboratory that will conduct tests on the ground on Friday, will find the surface even better than natural grass.
'The pitch will undergo two separate tests for rugby and soccer. I'm very confident that it will be able to host the Asian rugby tournament. It has to perform equal to, or better than, an actual grass pitch and I know it will,'' said Bach.