The professional sport that first embraced artificial turf — Major League Baseball in North America — has now come close to eliminating it. But soccer, after decades of fierce resistance, now appears to be headed in the opposite direction.

New York Times article on artificial turf

The professional sport that first embraced artificial turf — Major League Baseball in North America — has now come close to eliminating it. Yoann Gourrcuff of Olympique Lyon fought for the ball with Jonathan Brison, right, of Nancy during their game in Nancy earlier this month — and in the process appeared close to sampling Nancy’s brand new artificial turf. But soccer, after decades of fierce resistance, now appears to be headed in the opposite direction, a shift made clear as Nabil el-Yaagoubi walked across French club AS Nancy’s pristine new field on a sunny afternoon and lifted it up at the corner as if he were lifting the corner of a living room carpet.


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