Meet the new and improved groundskeeper!

There is a popular football news program on Iranian TV called “90”. In a recent program Adel Ferdowsipour, the anchor, showed a photo of a municipal football field in one of the small towns in south/central Iran.  In the photo there was a sheep herd having a blast munching on the grass field!

Ferdowsipour poked fun at the photo and then went on to criticize the officials for their apparent lack of concern for the facilities.

The top local official in charge of the office of National Physical Education Organization, Mr. Hajipour, took exception with Ferdowsipour’s comments and accused him of unfairly poking fun at not only the officials but the entire township, and demanded an apology.

Mr. Hajipour told reporters that the sheep herd’s presence on the field was a part of a preplanned maintenance arrangement!

“Studies have shown that regular presence of sheep can improve the quality of the pitch because they provide natural fertilizer”, said Mr. Hajipour. “Additionally, the sheep trim the grass better than most mechanical devices that tend to burn the top portion of the blades of the grass as they cut them.”

He went on to suggest that their approach was more environmentally friendly and more cost effective because no fossil fuel is required for trimming the pitch!

According to Mr. Hajipour the field hosts up to four matches per week and yet it was recently rated as one of the top five pitches in the nation!

Pay attention Old Trafford, Bernabeu, Camp Nou, and San Siro managers! Here is your chance to go green, save money, and improve your pitch condition all at the same time.