Grassmaster aside: the unconventional Ligue 1 alternative to improving lawns

== sync, corrected by elderman == @elder_man

The POL emic arriving at the CBF desk

The quality of Brasileirão's grass is a recurring topic of discussion among fans, coaches and commentators in Brazil. In search for solutions, the CBF studies measures to reduce POL emics involving competition fields and one of the inspirations may come from a French model created more than a decade ago.

This is the "Campeonato de Gramados", a separate tournament organised by France's Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), which awards the club with the best playing surface of the season.

What 's the Championship of Grass

At the beginning of the last decade, the quality of French football pitches became a subject for debate.

Here's how it works.

• Technical criteria to be met clubs and referees evaluate the pitches each round based on five criteria: ball trajectory; ground firmness and flexibility; quality in acceleration, steering and stops; overall quality (density, colour); and comprehensive conditions (warming up and markings).
• Notes from the Court In the early seasons, each criterion was rated from zero to five. Today LFP adopts a scale of 1 to 20.
• Extra rating from TV: - Oh, my God. - What's going on here? In Ligue 1, even the TV director of the match gives his grade, analyzing pitch density, pattern (color, stripes and markings), stability (how the field behaves in strong treads, carts and splits) and a general analysis.
• Outdoor games: ... and outdoor sports activities, such as football. . . . " If a club is unable to use its own stadium for any reason, the ground on which it acts as owner shall be assessed in the same way whether rented or not.
• Game postponed . The game 's been delayed for two weeks . - Oh , yeah ? if a match needs to be postponed, the home team receives minimum score (1) in all criteria without reassessment on the new date.
• Punishment: the death of a child; and/or the loss of his or her life. the LFP Competition Commission can impose a fine of up to EUR 50 000 (approximately R$ 292 mIl at current prices) to teams with an average of less than 10 in three consecutive games.

Timeline: from debut to record

This Decision is addressed to the Member States. Inaugural season of the tournament in France's top two divisions, initially focused on electing the "best natural grass". PSG retained the title from the first edition, and a trophy was presented to Jonathan Calderwood, who is responsible for maintaining the Parc des Princes pitch.

For the 2017/18 season Ligue 1 has now banned all-synthetic fields.

The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with this Article. . Allianz Riviera, Nice's home stadium, were champions of the most recent tournament with Metz and Nantes in second and third place respectively.

Does the model work?

The tournament has already proven effective in practice, with Metz only finishing 12th in the Ligue 2 turf championship in 2013/14 and promoting changes to the surface of Stade Saint-Symphorien the following year.

The grass championship confirmed this to us (which needed to change).The fact that we were very poorly classified and the new criteria of the Club License weighed. (...) The ranking allowed us to go beyond the position of the club, because it is representative and neutral stated at the time Jean-François Girard, then stadium director, to "L'Équipe".

The success of the measure has even led the French Football Federation (FFF) to adopt the idea in its tournaments: Arkema Première Ligue (Women's Championship) and Ligue 3.

What it means for the Brazilian

If the CBF follows French example, Brasileirão would gain an official grass ranking with standardized evaluations every round and a possibility of financial punishment for those who neglect maintenance.

Where we are now

The French model, with more than ten years of operation, records for average quality and expansion to other competitions, appears as a concrete reference but any implementation in Brazil depends on decisions by the entity itself.