Johan Cruijff, sports adviser of Mexican club Club Deportivo Guadalajara, has convinced leadership of club to change the artificial pitch at Estadio Omnilife to a natural one.

The Estadio Omnilife is the new stadium of Chivas. It was opened in 2010 and has a capacity of almost 50,000 spectators. The stadium was equipped with an artificial pitch, an investment of about $1 million. However, if the pitch is discarded, it will still mean a significant financial loss.

Cruijff claims that it was easy to convince the Chivas directors of the need to sell the team, thanks to the team's passionate fans willingness to go above and beyond for them.

There were no major complaints about the artificial pitch, though some traditional fans had trouble adjusting, and Johan Cruijff said that his preference for natural grass mainly results from his general football philosophy. In a statement he remarked, "playing on grass is not just the surface you touch, but it is all it encompasses, a natural thing, and we think that everything that is natural is the best."

He noted that he is not particularly anti-artificial surfaces, stating that he thinks they can be effective solutions for places where there is a lot of cold or rain. But he also stated that the football that he wants to play deserves "a special pitch on which it is a joy to play football."

Photo: © Juan Olivas