Access to a football field which is playable all year round is very important for footballers. Synthetic turf makes this possible, but to date it has not been a completely satisfactory solution. On some artificial surfaces, a fall can lead to players suffering friction burns and on others the fibers eventually buckle irreversibly under the constant load. Together with TISCA TIARA, the Polymer & Processing group developed a bicomponent melt-spun fiber which manages to overcome both these problems thanks to its hard core and soft sheath.