Various European grass sports organisations, notably football, golf and rugby, have jointly called on the EU institutions and Member States to review the arguments – “based on full and adequate information and an impact assessment” – to in favor of a total ban on phytosanitary products for sports fields.

The EU has presented a draft community regulation that would prevent the use of any type of pesticide on these lands, which makes maintenance difficult and would make lawn care especially complicated in southern countries, such as Spain and Italy, among others.. For this reason, several national institutions, such as La Liga or the Spanish Association of Golf Courses (AECC) are moving to prevent this regulation from going ahead as it is currently proposed..

The document was presented in 2021, but it was not until this year that its processing began in Brussels, first in the Environment Committee (April) and later in the Agriculture Committee, where more than 2,000 allegations have been received on this situation. The intention of the European authorities is that this new regulation is approved this year and can enter into force at the end of 2024.

This legislation has not convinced institutions such as UEFA, the European Leagues, Fegga, ETG, IGF, R&A and EGA, which represent practically the entire European football and golf sector, and which have issued a joint note asking that “the EU policies related to sports fields are properly assessed and optimally formulated, taking due account of sporting consequences and sport-related socio-economic impacts for the long-term sustainability of the sector”.

These organizations show their “strong support for the EU on public health and the environment” to meet its ambitious goals outlined in the EU strategies on the Green Deal, biodiversity and “from farm to fork”.. However, they remember the impact that its full application on sports fields will have on turf maintenance..

The president of the Spanish Association of Golf Courses, Luis Nigorra, told El Confidencial that “it is always good to make progress in environmental matters, but we must do things wisely because if not, they will go against what we intended”. In this sense, remember that the maintenance of a lawn in Germany or Denmark has nothing to do with what it means in Greece, for example..

Nigorra recalls that Spain has more than 400 golf courses (the vast majority in Andalusia) and some 300,000 federated players. In addition, every year it attracts 1.2 million golf tourists, of whom some 300,000 have acquired a residence in our country.. They are tourists with high purchasing power that allow this sector to move more than 17,000 million euros and 121,000 jobs (15,000 only in golf courses). “Spain is one of the world reference destinations in this sport and that is why we must take special care of any legislative change that may affect this industry,” he explains..

For his part, the representative of the Spanish Association of Greenkeepers, Javier Gutiérrez, considers that the regulation “takes the prohibition of phytosanitary products to the extreme instead of simply ordering their proper use as a last resort for lawn maintenance”. In fact, it stresses that the draft regulation prohibits even the use of biological products in these facilities.

“Grass sports in Europe have been leading the reduction in the use of pesticides for many years, carrying out strict controls and applying integrated pest management in full cooperation with the relevant national and European standards and objectives”, explains the also head of the Acttua firm. Golf Services.

Currently, low risk products are used in accordance with EU Regulation 1107/2009. In addition, they must be authorized for specific use on grass sports surfaces by the corresponding national authority.. The products can only be purchased and used by certified experts who must accredit training every two or three years.. Protective clothing must be worn for use, and any areas treated with the products are blocked off before they can be used again by staff and players.. In this way, the recommended and labeled periods of safe reentry after application are respected..

The repercussions in the world of football seem even more evident as it is by far the most popular sport in Europe and now also with great growth in the female population.

UEFA highlights that “grass pitches are vital for European social and socio-economic goals, since the availability of safe pitches at grassroots level has a direct impact on the participation of children and young people and improves health and physical activity”. “There is a particular risk for vulnerable rural communities that already lack adequate access to playing fields and other sports facilities,” he remarks..

On a professional level, if the new regulations were to be applied, it would be necessary to repeatedly replace entire fields, since diseases and increased damage caused by use would be more difficult to repair and, in the case of some diseases, practically impossible. to stop in extreme cases without the use of any phytosanitary product.

The consequences of this repeated substitution would be significant even for the big clubs that generate significant income, as well as having a knock-on environmental impact, as more grass would have to be collected and transported between Member States.. There would be a decrease in the overall quality of pitches in Europe, which is currently the standard, and with this decrease in quality the risk of injury to players would increase and the quality of the game itself would decrease in general..

In the context of the possible ban on the marketing of rubber granules as infill for artificial turf pitches (microplastics), the Commission's proposal for a Regulation complicates the question of the adequate availability of football infrastructure in the Member States, which is already below the optimal level to guarantee full access to grassroots football facilities.

The coordinator of the pitches for La Liga, Pedro Fernández Bolaños, defends the “enormous quality and modernization of lawn care on Spanish soccer fields” and regrets that “after years of study and improvement in this sector, the EU wants to now let's throw all that work in the trash”.

This Cordovan assures El Confidencial that “the proposed regulations would bring serious problems to Spanish football and not only because the grass is more or less beautiful, but because it would even influence the quality of the game or the safety of the players.”

On the other hand, the repercussions on rugby would be largely similar, since most of this sport in Europe is played on fields shared with football, especially grassroots rugby.