The project will continue until 2027 and annually, more than 7.3 million Swedish kronor will be allocated for the work. The decision was made by the Nordic Council of Ministers on Monday in Stockholm.
The EU's ban on the sale of rubber granules will come into force in 2031 with the aim of, among other things, stopping the spread of microplastics in the environment. However, it is still unclear what will replace the black rubber grains.
"Very urgent"
Minister for Social Affairs and Sports Jakob Forssmed (KD) calls the transformation work "very urgent" and says that the Nordic countries have the same kind of challenges.
There are replacement granules today, but they are often not necessarily adapted to our climate zone with the Nordic climate, where we have a great need for artificial turf pitches, but also need granules that work.
The support allocated will, according to Forssmed, be considered as "catalytic money" that contributes to strengthening the development that is already taking place in the area.
It requires funds to accelerate that work, strengthen it and ensure that we utilize experiences from our respective countries in a better way, he says.
Want to be involved
Caroline Waldheim, sustainability manager at the Swedish Football Association, welcomes the initiative. It is crucial for football activities throughout the country.
We will need to cooperate on many levels and between many organizations for this transformation to be possible. It is not something that we as football movements can take responsibility for alone, or even sports, but we need politics in this transformation, she says and continues:
We also assume that we as a football association will now be involved in this issue and get to contribute with what is our expert knowledge.
The Norwegian Football Association has also been seeking help for a long time – and they have estimated that the transformation will cost the equivalent of approximately 7 billion Swedish kronor, according to Norwegian NTB.
Lise Klaveness, chairman of the Norwegian Football Association, has called the transformation "the most important issue for Norwegian football".
