Pitch-perfect style for El Monumental

Article posted by Coliseum, November 17^th, 2020

Image: River Plate

UK-based SIS Pitches – whose forte is designing and constructing pitches – has got rolling a full pitch reconstruction at the legendary El Monumental Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, home of Club Atlético River Plate.

El Monumental is a stadium in the Belgrano district of Buenos Aires, Argentina, home of the football club – Club Atlético River Plate. It was opened on May 26^th, 1938.

Club Atlético River Plate, commonly known as River Plate, is an Argentine professional sports club based in the Núñez neighborhood of Buenos Aires, and was founded on May 25^th, 1901.

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Based in the UK, SIS Pitches is a fully international business with offices around the world, including Ireland, the Netherlands, Russia, Turkey, the Middle East and Angola. SIS Pitches design and construct the best hybrid, synthetic and natural sports pitches.

A state-of-the-art SISGrass hybrid grass system will come up in lieu of the existing pitch at the El Monumental Stadium buttressed by undersoil SISAir aeration system which will create a stronger playing surface by increasing aeration and moderating temperature in the root zone.

The team is being spearheaded by Carlos Reis, Director, SIS Pitches, and the pitch rebuilding work started in October and will be over in December. The installation of SISGrass is scheduled to happen in January, to be completed in time for the new football season in 2021.

Some of the biggest names in sport – FC Barcelona (Spanish professional football club based in Barcelona, Spain), Green Bay Packers (American football team based in Wisconsin, US), Chelsea FC (English professional football club based in Fulham, London) and BMO Field (an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Canada) – swear by SISGrass which will provide an elite playing surface that is made of 95 percent natural grass, mixed with high performance polyethylene fibers.

Apart from SISGrass, the pitch will boast SISAir which has been used successfully in many stadia around the world including at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow for the World Cup final in 2018.

SISAir includes heating and cooling systems, which will prevent seasonal deterioration of the playing field and meet the exacting climate conditions in Argentina.

SIS Pitches has worked with its registered distributor Forbex which is providing the local knowhow to facilitate SIS Pitches to complete the project.

Exulted George Mullan, CEO, SIS Pitches, “We are delighted to have won this project against stiff competition but I believe it was our ability to deliver the whole pitch package with our innovative SISAir and SISGrass systems combined with our experience in pitch construction which counted most for our client. All the works will be completed by our own staff. Personally, I am delighted to be back in Argentina, a market I worked in many years back.”

Cliff Raiman-Poker from Forbex added, “It’s a privilege for us to be working on this project, this is a true temple of football where some of the greatest players in the world have played, including soccer giants Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi, and where so many historic football moments have taken place.”

Added Raiman-Poker, “El Monumental Stadium enjoying the best pitch available will be a fitting tribute to the facility, and it’s a great honour that River chose us to build it for them. We look forward to continuing to work closely with our customers in Latin America to increase the quality of the sports pitches in our countries, and to achieve a level of sports infrastructure that matches the immense talent of our athletes.”

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