Inside Salt Lake Stadium’s restoration – How the VYBK pitch got ready for India vs Brazil in Kolkata

The Salt Lake Stadium is almost ready for the international friendlies, India vs Brazil on October 3 and India vs Uruguay on October 6. | Photo Credit: Ivan Nascimento

India’s football aficionados were in for a big surprise when five-time World Cup champion Brazil — the famed Seleção — confirmed an international friendly against the Blue Tigers at the Salt Lake Stadium (Vivekananda Yuba Bharati Krirangan) in Kolkata on October 3.

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Soon after the announcement, a team from the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) visited Kolkata, but was unhappy with the condition of the pitch.

Preparations on a war footing followed; the All India Football Federation (AIFF) asked the CBF to provide an expert to get the turf in shape in time. Accordingly, Ivan Nascimento, a turf expert from Brasilia, arrived in the city and stayed here for a month, supervising the transformation.

“Our main goal was to regularise the processes and the soil. We found some unevenness in the soil, with waves on the surface, and the grass was also very tall,” Nascimento told Sportstar while showing pictures of the various stages of the curing process he has on record.

“So, we started with the agronomic work and then moved on to coordinating the operations so that we could transform this field into a standard international playing field.”

Restoration and repair of the football pitch involved weeks of work with the local and the Brazilian team operating in tandem. | Photo Credit: Ivan Nascimento

The last time the turf received such attention was almost a decade ago, when the pitch was transformed from artificial AstroTurf to an all-natural Riviera Bermuda grass surface specifically to meet FIFA guidelines ahead of the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2017.

Since then, the pitch has hosted regular Indian Super League seasons and other tournaments, which have taken a toll on its condition.

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“The main changes we had to make were to correct the soil level and make the necessary agronomic adjustments, particularly with the fertilisation,” Nascimento said.

“After the initial analysis, we were able to draw up a plan for what needed to be done over the following months. My role then involved coordinating the daily operations — observing and understanding how the field responded to each intervention.

“In this way, we could make accurate decisions to reach the final goal: a healthy field that allows the players to perform without getting injured and provides a good spectacle for television,” he added.

Ivan Nascimento has stayed in Kolkata for nearly a month to ensure that the pitch is ready when the Seleçãotakes the pitch against India on October 3. | Photo Credit: Ivan Nascimento

Nascimento further elaborated how specific aspects of the pitch were individually looked into with utmost care.

“The main interventions were related to levelling. We needed to carry out drilling, which is aeration, to allow air to enter the soil. After that, we were able to use a roller and transform the uneven surface into a much flatter field,” he explained.

“Then we did very specific work on the areas where the playing lines would be painted. There was a very large deposit of paint, which was making the soil extremely hard. After correcting that, we started the mowing process.”

He added that the mowing was done in the opposite direction to what had been done previously; regular fertilisation was carried out across the pitch, while measures were taken to control fungus and insects.

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Once the grass was taken care of, Nascimento’s team moved to the next target: design – creating the ‘light-and-dark-green stripes’. But the constraint was time. Brazil would need the pitch ready when it arrived.

That work required the involvement of a huge workforce, most of it drawn from the local team.

“We came from Brazil with two teams, an agronomic team that included me and a team from the stadium department. We adjusted the operation day by day, but we also had the support of the local team that already takes care of the lawn and the pitch, which has been fantastic,” he said.

Conditioning and repair of grass was followed by designing the pitch and painting it to look perfectly ready for both matches of India against Brazil and Uruguay. | Photo Credit: Ivan Nascimento

Getting a football turf ready for matches in a short time is not unfamiliar territory for Nascimento.

“I own a company called Arenas, and we work at the Mane Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia. We don’t have a resident club at our stadium, so we don’t host many football matches — only about 20 a year,” he explained.

“In the gaps between the matches, we host a number of international concerts, which really damages the turf. As a result, we are constantly changing, replacing and restoring the grass several times a year. In fact, this November, I am replanting the entire field,” he added.

Nascimento’s work will reach completion soon, and to an extent that both teams – India and Brazil – will train on the main pitch a day before kick-off.

“According to the protocol, there will be no separate training pitch. Brazil will be training on the main pitch before the day of the match. Brazil will train from 4 pm to 5 pm, and then India will train from 6 pm to 7 pm,” Ivan said.

“So, we have a field that will accommodate both teams’ training sessions. We will prepare it for the match and also for the subsequent game against Uruguay on October 6,” he added.

Nascimento revealed that India will train on the main pitch between 6 pm and 7 pm on the eve of its match against Brazil. | Photo Credit: K. Murali Kumar

Next month, the Salt Lake Stadium will host not one but two former World champions. And Nascimento feels the project will reach its completion right in time for the show to begin.

“Yes, the changes meet the requirements for what we need to do. But we had a short amount of time, so we worked day after day with the local team and with the support of the federation. We were also able to request some machines that were not available at the stadium,” Nascimento said.

“Today, we don’t have a 100 per cent field, but I would say we have reached something close to 90 per cent, with acceptable levelling, good colour and important grass density. We can have a great show.”