The home club must make every reasonable effort to ensure that the pitch is in the best possible condition for play. If the climatic conditions so require, facilities such as pitch heating and a pitch cover must be provided to ensure that the field of play is in a suitable condition on any match date. The UEFA administration or a third party mandated by UEFA may carry out pitch inspections at any time before and during the competition to check whether the pitch is in a suitable condition to host matches of the competition. Following any initial pitch inspection and recommendation report, the cost of any further inspections or the provision of expert guidance or material by a third party is to be assumed by the club concerned. Clubs are requested to cooperate fully with all such inspections.
For natural pitches, the height of the grass may not, in principle, exceed 30mm and the entire playing surface must be cut to the same height. The height of the cut should be the same for both the training sessions and the match. If deemed necessary by the referee or the UEFA match delegate, the home club may be required to reduce the height of the grass for the match and training sessions.
Any full or partial replacement of a pitch ahead of a match must be communicated to UEFA in advance. UEFA reserves the right to inspect the pitch before approval. Changing the surface of the pitch from natural grass to artificial turf or vice versa is not permitted as of the first match of the league phase.
The pitch watering schedule must be communicated by the home club at the matchday organisational meeting. The pitch must be watered evenly and not only in certain areas. As a general rule, pitch watering must finish 60 minutes before kick-off. However, upon the decision of the home club, pitch watering may also take place after that time:
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between 10 and 5 minutes before kick-off; and/or
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during half-time, for a maximum of 5 minutes.
The referee is entitled to request changes to the pitch-watering schedule.
All goals must be set up securely and in accordance with the IFAB Laws of the Game and UEFA's instructions. No additional structural elements or physical supports may be used inside the net or in its immediate surroundings other than bars fixing the goal net to the ground and goal net stanchions behind and outside the net. Portable goals must not be used.
It is the responsibility of the home club to ensure that the area immediately adjacent to the pitch is safe for players and referees, which includes, but is not limited to, securely installing additional, high-quality, green artificial turf around the field of play temporarily if necessary. Furthermore, should artificial turf need to be temporarily installed for the purpose of creating one or more warm-up areas, for example on top of a running track, this must also be securely installed, high-quality, green artificial turf.
All clubs must respect the pitch cutting guidelines.
All clubs must respect the relevant pitch protection maps for both MD-1 training sessions (if applicable) and pre-match warm-ups.