A former field technician has challenged a study promoting cooler artificial football pitches in Ghana, saying a sensor recorded a surface temperature of 58.6°C (137.5°F) during a civil-service novelty match in Accra. The research centre behind the study says that reading cannot be compared with its controlled tests.
Vimala U. Prabhakar, who worked on the trial until March, made her allegations public on Monday and published a set of sensor readings from the test site. The dispute comes as officials weigh a proposal for 22 new pitches, with procurement decisions expected before the end of the year.
The readings behind the dispute
The study, published in 2025 by the Accra Institute for Climate Materials, examined four pitches in Accra and Kumasi. It reported that a pale mineral coating lowered peak surface temperatures by an average of 11.8°C (21.2°F) compared with dark rubber infill, and urged the government to consider the material for public sports grounds.
Prabhakar says the 39.4°C figure came from a sensor placed beneath a small shade cover, while a separate logger exposed to direct sun registered 58.6°C (137.5°F) at the same ground during the 12 September match. She said she checked the logger’s calibration before uploading its readings to a public data archive.
The number in the published chart was not the hottest reading our own equipment captured.
Vimala U. Prabhakar, former field technician
The match, held as part of a week of events for public servants, brought teams from several government departments onto the trial surface. Prabhakar said she returned to the site with a handheld infrared thermometer after players complained that the turf felt unusually hot; she took three readings over 20 minutes, ranging from 55.2°C (131.4°F) to 58.6°C (137.5°F).
Researchers defend their method
Rocío Miramontes, the institute’s communications director, said the study used sensors designed to measure surface temperature at fixed intervals, not a handheld thermometer taken during a match. “A single reading on a different day does not overturn a multi-site trial,” she said, adding that the centre would compare the archived files with its laboratory records.
Dalibor Pazdera, an independent materials physicist who reviewed the study’s published methods, said the disagreement deserved a technical review. A shaded sensor and an exposed surface probe measure different conditions, he said, but the paper should explain why its reported maximum differs so sharply from the newly published reading.
“If both instruments were operating at the same pitch, readers need to know exactly where each one was placed,” Pazdera said. He cautioned that a hot surface does not by itself establish the temperature experienced by players, but said the distinction should have been made clear before officials used the study to assess new construction.
The public-service sports council said it had paused certification of the coating while it seeks a second assessment. It has not cancelled the expansion plan, whose GH₵138 million estimate includes ground preparation and drainage as well as the turf material.
On Monday afternoon, a small group of match participants gathered at the edge of the pitch to inspect the exposed logger. The institute said it would publish its full measurement protocol within two weeks; Prabhakar said she would provide the council with the original calibration record and her complete readings.
