Sepp Blatter has raised eyebrows among many football fans by hinting that Fifa are considering using artificial playing surfaces during 2010's World Cup in South Africa.
The president of world football is worried that the climate in the country will produce poor playing surfaces as heat, drought and then torrential rain combine to create a messy surface.
“We have envisaged, though it’s not yet a final decision, that the 2010 World Cup could be played on artificial turf," he said on Monday. "An artificial pitch gives you the same conditions during the whole year.”
Uefa has already allowed Euro 2008 qualifying games to take place on a plastic surface, as seen when England lost to Russia in Moscow at the end of last year.