Ruud Gullit has blasted the use of plastic pitches in the Eredivisie and claimed it is ruining Dutch football.
- By Michael Bell
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Six clubs in the Eredivisie currently play on artificial turf and more in the Eerste Divisie. Top clubs in the Netherlands are trying to implement change which will see all clubs return to grass pitches, but so far no agreement has been made.
Speaking to Reuters, Gullit said, “I’ve said all along we can’t have these pitches, but in Holland, they were promoting it.
“The people who were promoting it had an interest in it and are now on the board of the KNVB. Now we know it’s ridiculous, but to reverse it will be difficult.
“We’ve gone backwards. It’s destroyed our football. It’s a different game, totally different. If they [every league] played on plastic I would accept it, but we have six in the Eredivisie and it’s outrageous.
“Now we are finding that players don’t want to come and play in Holland because of it and young players want to leave.
“The crazy thing if you want good natural grass, Holland is the place to come. We have the best natural turf in the world.”
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Good man Ruud.
We need him in the KNVB set up, not sycophants.