FIFA wins race to convert pitches from rugby to soccer

By Mike Collett

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - FIFA and the local organising committee of the Confederations Cup moved to allay fears on Saturday that the quality of the pitches being used in the competition would not be of the highest quality.

Three of the four pitches being used for the World Cup test event -- Ellis Park in Johannesburg, Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria and the Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein -- are primarily used for rugby union.

Organisers have had a huge task, and little time, in transforming them into football pitches for the competition which starts on Sunday.

Rustenburg's Royal Bafokeng Stadium is not primarily a rugby ground, but staged the opening game of the current British and Irish Lions rugby tour at the end of last month while the Lions also played at Ellis Park on June 3.

The African National Congress also staged a rally at Ellis Park in April and the pitch looked far from perfect on Saturday as final preparations were being made for the opening match between hosts South Africa and Asian champions Iraq.

Derek Blankensee, competitions director of the local organising committee, said the pitches would all play "flat and true."

"Rugby players are big guys and in the scrums they tend to do a little bit of damage to the turf. A tremendous amount of work to repair those areas has been done.

"In terms of the rugby pitch, the grass needs to be longer and has a different consistency. The posts need to be moved into a different position for the football pitch and the actual location of the pitch in the stadium is different," he said.