While all amateur matches and matches in the first division have been canceled this weekend, PSV assumes that football can be played as usual in the Philips Stadium on Saturday. Despite the winter conditions, the field of the Eindhoven leader is in excellent condition this Thursday and according to the stadium director, the stadium is also safe.
Not a white snow-covered field, but a sleek, green lawn in the Philips Stadium. Anyone who takes a look at the turf in the stadium would almost think that there is a closed roof over the PSV stadium.
The Eindhoven leader of the Eredivisie therefore assumes that the competition can be resumed on Saturday with a home match against Excelsior. “The snow comes off quite quickly because there is field heating and the grass is also illuminated and heated from the top. Things will certainly be fine on Saturday as it stands now,” says stadium director Sjors van den Boogaart.
“We at PSV prefer to just play. We have a stadium with many facilities, including around the field. In principle, we assume that we can play well.”
Sports halls and large business premises are closed due to too much snow on the roof. The PSV stadium is not affected by this, says Van den Boogaart. “We are keeping a close eye on this. There was not much already and the temperatures are now, we expect all the snow to be off the roof by tomorrow. The stadium is safe.”
What if a lot of snow falls in the coming days?
The weather forecast says that a lot of snow may fall on Friday evening. Van den Boogaart: “Of course, everything can change in terms of weather in the coming days, but as it looks now, we expect it to be safe for the football players and supporters on Saturday. If there are any changes, we will anticipate them.”
Besides the fact that the field must be easy to play on, according to Van den Boogaart it must also be safe for the supporters to come to Eindhoven. “It may be that the weather changes, that it may be wise from certain corners of the Netherlands to travel differently or not to come here, but you will only know that on Saturday and then we just have to follow the weather forecast carefully.”
The KNVB shares this assessment: all stadiums in the Friends Lottery Eredivisie have natural grass and field heating, so that the fields can be made ready for play on time. An early decision to cancel matches is therefore not yet necessary.
Competing on three fronts
Because PSV is still competing on three fronts (competition, KNVB Cup and Champions League), according to Van den Boogaart, every effort is made to avoid having to catch up on a match later: “If we don’t play, the match will have to be made up somewhere and that means a busier programme. But of course safety always comes first.”