The football pitch at Almaty's Central Stadium has been restored after a concert by world star Kanye West. Specialists now rate the quality of the turf as satisfactory, and in their opinion, the condition of the field allows for the international match between Kairat and Anderlecht, which our footballers and their fans had been so eagerly awaiting. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
The Directorate of Sports Facilities of Almaty noted that emergency work began immediately after the dismantling of the concert stage on August 16. Aeration, piercing, and mowing of the surviving grass were carried out. New seeds were sown, and damaged areas were sanded. Enhanced round-the-clock watering (day and night) was organized to revive the root system.
The condition of the turf is under constant monitoring.
Recall that on August 20, the first match of the Europa League playoff round between Kairat and Anderlecht will take place. The game will be held at the Central Stadium in Almaty at 20:00 Kazakhstan time. The return match will be played on August 27 in Brussels.
Earlier it was reported that Anderlecht striker Lukasz Ambros, after a pre-match training session, confirmed that the quality of the field is acceptable, although "small areas with not the best quality of grass" are visible.
Kairat head coach Rafael Urazbakhtin admitted that the grass turned yellow due to the high temperature under the covering, but the team is ready to play in these conditions.
As Kursiv wrote, Kanye West's concert took place in Almaty without force majeure. However, earlier it was precisely because of the concert that Kairat was forced to move the return match of the third qualifying round of the Champions League against Bulgarian Levski to Turkestan, where our team lost.