Vassil Levski Stadium. Sofia. Bulgaria

 Madonna was to perform a Concert in Bulgaria's National Stadium at Sofia on the 29th August '09.  This Concert was to be followed by a World Cup qualifying match on 5th September '09.

I was contacted by Ontario Sport in Sofia to offer advice on remedial action to return the pitch to a playable condition following the Concert.

It would have been benefical to start treating the area to strengthen the plants cell walls and reduce stress prior to the pitch being covered, unfortunately the time schedule did not allow for this.

I recommended a combination of natural products that would stimulate root activity thus generating fresh growth and arranged for these products to be flown to Sofia.

I was then asked to personally deliver the product and supervise the application, I arrived in Sofia at lunchtime on Sunday 30th.

The covers were already being removed and it became apparent that moisture had been trapped under the covers which had added to the damage.  The last of the covering was removed at 6.30pm on the Monday and our first application was applied at this time.  The team from Ontario sport meanwhile removed the rotted vegetation and started remedial work on the uneven surface.

On the Tuesday the national press was in uproar, however the first signs of life were beginning to appear on the damaged areas and our second treatment to stimulate the micro-biological activity of the soil was applied on the Tuesday evening.

Wednesday brought more fresh growth to the pitch to show that our stimulation of the roots was working well, by the Thursday morning the damaged areas were showing reasonable growth.  FIFA rules dictate that the visiting team practice on the pitch the day before the match.  My first application was delayed from the Sunday to the Monday as the pitch was still covered and the fact that the pitch needed to be playable on the Friday resulted in reducing my time line from 150-100 hours.

A further application of our growth stimulant was applied on both Wednesday and Thursday evening to help alleviate the additional stress caused by the necessity to roll the pitch, adding to the compaction.  On the Thursday evening it was also decided to borrow some technology commonly used in the Golf Industry to further enhance the pitch and this product was applied after our growth stimulant.

The pitch was approved by FIFA on the Friday.  A delegation from the British FA and Fulham also visited the Stadium on the Friday and approved the venue for a forthcoming game on the 17th.  Both Bulgaria and Montenegro were able to practice on the pitch on the Friday evening and the match went ahead as scheduled on the Saturday with Bulgaria winning the match 4:1.

- job done -

Below are are set of photographs showing the progress of the pitch during the week.