Evaluation of football turf quality in the Guangzhou Asian Games

The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and fuzzy mathematics were used to evaluate the turf quality of 16 football fields in the Guangzhou Asian Games by measuring the evenness, traction, rolling friction, ball rebounce, hardness, density, coverage, grass height, and texture of turf. Based on the site conditions, the weight of each index was determined, and weight matrix for each index was constructed by AHP method. And then the fuzzy mathematics was applied to calculate the comprehensive evaluation value which determined the turf quality grade. This study showed that the turf quality of the 16 football turfs were suitable for football games, and three fields of which fell into excellent grade; 12 fields and 1 field fell into good grade and intermediate grade, respectively. This study implied that AHP and fuzzy mathematics could be successfully and accurately used to comprehensively evaluate the turf quality of football field.