Last Saturday, ahead of the away game against Gangwon, the Suwon team was shocked to see them stepping on the ground of Songam Sports Town in Chuncheon prior to the match.

The grass was dug in places, and there were places where the sand was exposed. There were even traces of paint on it. Worries about injuries were rampant before the start of the game among the players.

Suwon Lee Sang-min : “If you look here…Do you have anything to say?..Still, you have to do well…'”
Suwon Son Ho-jun : “I’m going to burn at least one person. If I fall, I’ll be in big trouble.”

Concerns became reality. Players from both teams often fell or slipped on the hollow grass, and dribbling was not smooth because the ball continued to bounce irregularly.

The miserable condition of the grass in Chuncheon was transmitted to soccer fans through radio waves. Fans who watched the game were busy pouring out strong criticism towards the Gangwon club, saying, “Is this the K-League stadium in 2023?”

It has already been more than two months since the grass problem occurred at the Chuncheon ground, but the Chuncheon City and Gangwon FC clubs are still going ahead with the game without any countermeasures.

Why was the grass so damaged when there was no big concert or event going on?

Kim Byeong-ji, CEO of Gangwon FC, revealed that the Chuncheon City Corporation, which manages the stadium, has over-injected nutrient-promoting fertilizer, and the turf has been damaged.

Representative Kim said that although he is currently working on supplementing the grass, the home game schedule is tight and there is not enough time for the grass to take root. It is a situation where the answer is impossible for a reason.

The Professional Football Federation, which dispatches game supervisors for each round, said that although the grass was in poor condition, it approved the use of the field after judging that it was not too difficult to proceed with the game. Gangwon plans to play against Pohang on the weekend in Chuncheon as scheduled.
(The Professional Football Federation has been in partnership with a famous turf research institute for 3 years and has been conducting turf consulting for 25 K-League clubs’ home stadiums.) While the clubs

and federations all withdraw, the Gangwon players are bearing the brunt of the damage. Gangwon FC is in the relegation zone, being chased by only 2 points from 12th-placed Suwon.안전놀이터

In adverse conditions where the home game is rather unfavorable, coach Choi Yong-soo was even ‘blocked by the bus’ last weekend, but the club is repeating that there is nothing they can do.

Gangwon has a total of 3 games left this season, from Chuncheon to Pohang on May 27, Daejeon on June 7, and Jeonbuk on June 11. It is a very important schedule that depends on whether or not to escape the relegation zone, but Gangwon plans to play all three matches on a ‘paddy field grass’ that is not much different from now.

It is a situation where only the hearts of Gangwon fans and players are burning for whom the ‘home game’ is for.