Panamanian players on state of country's pitches: "We play with fear of injury"

• Panamanian footballers, supported by their player union AFUTPA, denounced the poor conditions of some of the country's pitches

• AFUTPA succeeded in getting some stadiums closed; the union continues to fight for improvements for Panama’s top two men’s leagues and women’s league

• Marlon Avila, who suffered an ACL tear in 2024 because of the state of the synthetic turf, spoke to FIFPRO

For far too long now, footballers in Panama have been living with one of the worst feelings a professional footballer can experience on a daily basis: the fear of suffering a serious injury and being side-lined for a long period. The reason for this is the poor state of several Panamanian pitches in the men's first and second divisions and the women's first division.

The Association of Professional Footballers of Panama (AFUTPA) has repeatedly denounced the situation over the last few years, but has received only partial responses from the government and football authorities.

“Our main concern is the state of the synthetic pitches, many of which have deteriorated considerably due to lack of maintenance, becoming a risk to the health and integrity of the players,” Juan Ramon Solis, executive director of AFUTPA, told FIFPRO.

“We have also requested improvements in stadium lighting, which has a direct impact on the quality of the spectacle and the commercial image of the players.”

AFUTPA's most recent successful intervention was to ensure that the El Balboa Stadium, a baseball ground unfit for football – in which images of the extremely poor pitch went viral in February – was no longer used for men's second division and women's first division matches.

Previously, in addition to involving the private sector to improve the facilities, they had managed to close other public stadiums, administered by the Panamanian state, which in Solis' words “did not meet the minimum conditions to host professional competitions”.

He added: “The road is long and the shortcomings are far from being completely solved.”

‘Every game is a coin toss’

Marlon Avila is one of the leading players in Panamanian football. The CAI right-back, champion of the Torneo Clausura 2024, ended the season by being voted the best defender of the year at the AF11TPA Gala.

But the start of 2024 was a nightmare: in a pre-season friendly he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) due to the state of the synthetic turf at the Estadio de Los Andes II.

“A long ball came to me. I controlled it and, when I was about to attack the ball to go forward, my heel got stuck. I felt my kneecap move to one side and then come back. That's when I screamed for my knee,” Avila told FIFPRO.

“In that stadium there were colleagues like Valentin Pimentel, for example, who had the same injury before me. It is a pitch that is not suitable for playing football and it is still being used,” he added.

When he recovered and returned to activity, Avila had to play again on the same pitch. “The truth is that I was quite scared, nervous about what had happened, for fear of something happening to me again. I still have that fear that I might get injured again, as I did once before,” he revealed.

The issue of the pitches is a regular topic of discussion among the players. The captains of the 12 teams in the league have a WhatsApp group where they talk about different topics.

“The team-mates know that, every game we go to, it’s like a coin toss. A lot of things can happen,” said Avila. “There are pitches that we play on that are good or very good, but there are others that are terrible. The ones that belong to the state are the ones that are very poor.”

In addition to the total lack of maintenance of the venues, excessive use is a big problem in the vision of the side: “Not only do the first and second division play, but there are also many sports leagues that in the end create wear and tear on the pitches and we feel it, which is our job.”