Artificial pitches should be permitted in the Bundesliga, according to the president of the German Football League Dr Reinhard Rauball.
Only natural grass pitches are currently acceptable for staging Bundesliga games, although clubs from the third division and below are able to stage their matches on artificial surfaces.
With technological advancements, modern artificial pitches are becoming increasingly popular and Dr Rauball feels German football should also open up to their introduction.
"The league has got to talk about it seriously," he said. "The quality of modern artificial pitches has become so good that it is worth considering the issue."
AC Milan and Inter Milan have resolved a perennial problem of the pitch at their San Siro stadium by using a 50/50 mix of artificial and natural grass while both Cesena and Novara had 100% artificial pitches in the Italian Serie A last season.
Moscow's Luzhniki stadium is also fitted out with an artificial pitch and many other clubs throughout Europe are considering a change.
"We will see what people think about on the league's board of directors and then we will have to present the issue at the Annual General Meeting and to the DFB (German Football Association) board," said Rauball to Sport Bild magazine.
Rauball expects the notion to be supported by the clubs, who particularly in the months following the winter break sometimes have problems maintaining a suitable playing field.
"They train on artificial pitches anyway, especially in winter," added Rauball.
