THE Hampden Park pitch is to be torn up and relaid for the League Cup Final.
The playing surface was criticised after the weekend's Scottish League Cup semi-finals.
The Scottish Professional Football League wrote to Hampden Park Ltd to raise its concerns about the pitch.
SPFL chief executive Neil Doncaster, in a statement, said that the company had "clearly...not delivered" on its assurance of a high quality pitch.
Last night Peter Dallas, managing director of Hampden Park Limited said the pitch had been affected by a combination of weather, use, and the timing of the last time it had been relaid, which was in November.
He said independent sports turf consultants had now inspected the surface and a decision had been made to returf the pitch.
No cost was quoted on the relaying of the national stadium for the second time in six months.
Mr Dallas added: "They reported that, taking into consideration weather forecasts and planned use of the surface between now and the Final, provision for re-turfing should be considered to ensure the best possible pitch for the League Cup Final.
"We have now had considerable detailed discussions with the SPFL, the Scottish FA and Queen's Park Football Club, and have decided to invest in a new pitch.
"We are putting a schedule of works in place to ensure the pitch will be installed in March prior to the Final and Scotland Internationals."
Dundee United beat Aberdeen and Celtic overcame Rangers at the weekend but the playing surface was widely criticised.
Celtic, in particular, were highly critical of the surface, with manager Ronny Deila saying it was "way below the standard we should play on".
Rangers defender Rickie Foster said the poor state of the Hampden pitch might have helped his side in their semi-final against Celtic, which the Scottish champions won 2-0.
Foster said: "We've watched videos of them at Parkhead and they do move the ball quickly. But with the pitch being like it was, it might have slowed them down a little bit and helped us."
The new grass will have to be laid in time for Celtic's final clash with Dundee United on March 15.
That is followed by Scotland games against Northern Ireland and Gibraltar in the following fortnight.
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