Will Mohamed Salah Play on Artifical Turf for Trabzonspor?

Egyptian football star Mohamed Salah is due to arrive in Finland for the UEFA Conference League match-up between Salah's Turkish side, Trabzonspor, and Finnish side Kuopion Palloseura (KuPS). This raises the question: could the artificial turf at KuPS's Tammelan Stadium become an obstacle for him?

The controversy surrounding Salah and artificial turf came to the forefront when he was left out of Egypt's national squad for its away match against South Sudan on September 29th. While the former Liverpool forward was in Egypt's starting lineup for the preceding game, a goalless draw with Angola which was played at home, he did not travel for the South Sudan match because of the artificial pitch at Juba Stadium.

In a statement, the Egyptian Football Association said: "The Egypt national team's technical staff decided to rest Mohamed Salah for the match against South Sudan, scheduled for September 29th, because of the pitch. The team's technical staff and Mohamed Salah agreed, before the Angola match, that he would not take part in the South Sudan game, in order to protect the player."

Is the risk of higher injury on artificial turf a myth?

There is a widespread belief in top-level football that the risk of injury is higher on artificial turf. However, the BBC notes that, according to studies, there is no real evidence that the risk of injury is higher on artificial turf.

In the Turkish Super League, all clubs play their matches on natural grass, so Salah will not face the same situation there. Turkish newspapers point out that Salah, who has played for Basel, Chelsea, Fiorentina, Roma and Liverpool, has appeared dozens of times on artificial surfaces in the qualifying rounds of European competitions.

The reports say: "When reviewing the archives, there is not a single documented case in which Salah was injured specifically because of artificial turf."

Tickets for the match, scheduled for October 15th, sold out in about four days. Tammelan Stadium's capacity is roughly 8,000 spectators. In the Conference League, Trabzonspor will also face Freiburg, Hearts, Jablonec and CSKA Sofia.