How an Irish company's pitches are used at the World Cup
Michael Bolton
While Ireland may not be at the World Cup, an Irish company has made its impact felt on pitches across the tournament.
Irish company SIS Pitches’ advanced sports pitch technology is in action across the tournament.
It is contributing to high-performance playing surfaces across nine of the 16 host stadiums at the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico — including the venue for the final.
SIS Pitches was set up in 2001 by Sligo man George Mullan, who is currently chairman of the global company.
Speaking to BreakingNews.ie, Mullan could not have imagined the success of the company when it was set up 25 years ago.
"We started off in Holland, and then we moved to the UK. We did a reasonable amount of big tournaments like the Champions League, but never really thought about the World Cup.
"We got heavily involved in Russia, when we built six of the 12 pitches, and we also maintained some of the stadiums. In Qatar, we did a lot of the training pitches and the stadiums.
"We have a good relationship with FIFA. If we say we are going to do something, we do it. If we make a mistake, we fix it."
For people watching at home, it may not be clear what would be a SIS pitch, but Mullan explains what sets their work apart from the rest.
"The biggest difference in the World Cup is that it is mandatory that they have a hybrid system, where we put five per cent fibre in the pitch.
"You can have that in a stitched form, or in a carpet form. Ours are stitched. We have competitors who also do that, but we build pitches from nothing.
"We are designing and building all the time. Most of our competitors are stitching; they are not actually building pitches. We look after three million square metres of grass around the world.
"We know what we are doing, and we have made most of the mistakes you are going to make."
In a World Cup where controversy over players denied entry, hydration breaks, and high ticket prices have made the headlines, Mullan has been pleased by how the pitches have been looked after.
"In this World Cup, there is no pre-training on the pitches the night before, which is great. In the past, we used to have that all the time.
"In the US, we are lucky. There is good ground staff over there, they are experienced, they know what they are doing.
"Anytime you are dealing with grass, and you put it in any stadium in the world. You are dealing with shade problems, light problems, and air problems. Grass tends to struggle, so it needs a lot of specialist attention.
"The biggest issue is the difference of temperatures. MetLife last was 24, 25 degrees; next week will be 26 degrees. That is the same for a lot of the stadiums.
"It is about having experienced people who know what they are doing. We hand all our pitches over. The key is to see, if the ball is bouncing, and if it is cutting up. None of the pitches have had any of those problems at all."
The pitches will also be used at the Women's World Cup in Brail next year, and the 2034 World Cup in Saudi Arabia.