Ex-Fifa official issues ‘amazing’ Liverpool claim after controversy – ‘A lot of people will be surprised’
The pitch at the Stade de France was able to be changed just days before Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0 in the Champions League final on Saturday (28 May) because of “amazing technology”.
That is according to ex-Fifa and Uefa referee Keith Hackett, speaking exclusively to Football Insider about the “old fashioned” methods at the Stade de France.
The Athletic reported on the day of the game that the pitch was installed two days previously after being driven up from northern Spain to Paris.
Jurgen Klopp admitted it was “not the best news” but it had not affected his mood ahead of the game.
“This again is part of the lack of planning,” Hackett told Football Insider correspondent Connor Whitley.
“They occasionally play rugby at Stade de France so it gets used quite a lot.
“Because of modern technology, it’s not like relaying the lawn in your back garden. It’s like a carpet roll, it’s an amazing piece of technology that is used when they do it.
“The reason they did it two days before is that they had to acquire it. A lot of people will be surprised that clubs in England have pitches on order and are grown in Lincolnshire.
“That might apply to more to the old style of pitch. The make up of the modern pitch is much different. It’s soilless with water systems underneath it that make it quite a complex procedure but look at the quality of pitches that we’ve got in England in the Premier League, they’re amazing.
“This pitch being driven up from Spain shows how old fashioned that stadium is. Modern stadiums don’t do that, they used to but tend not to anymore.”
In other news, a finance guru has issued an ‘exclusive’ Liverpool claim amid £1.2billion talks.