A field-based analysis of artificial football pitches with different vegetal infills

Abstract

This study compared the effects of artificial football surfaces incorporating different vegetal infills on players’ physical performance. It also examined how these systems differed from natural grass and from traditional third-generation artificial turf using recycled rubber from end-of-life tyres. No single vegetal infill outperformed the others across all variables, highlighting the need for individual evaluation. These findings indicate that some vegetal infills may provide performance characteristics comparable to existing systems, although their suitability for wider implementation will depend on further long-term, environmental, and context-specific evaluations.