Accreditations & Associations
We certify sports surfaces or technology to national and international standards with our expanding scope of accreditations.
We actively contribute to the development of these standards, ensuring testing protocols are up to date with the most current product innovations.
Sports Labs Partners
Sports Labs Accreditations
About FIFA
The FIFA Quality Programme sets internationally recognised industry standards for products, technologies and surfaces that have a direct impact on the game of football.
Sports Labs is a FIFA accredited test institute and can perform the tests on football turf, footballs (IMS), goal line technology, virtual offside line (VAR), futsal, electronic player tracking devices and goal posts. These tests are a vital element of the FIFA Quality Program.
Sports Labs is proud to be a part of this program which is continuously developing while the Sports Lab laboratory continues to offers the largest coverage over the quality programme product categories.
The Fifa Quality Programme
‘’The programme aims to endorse products that meet strict quality requirements to improve the game and to protect the players, clubs and associations. All standards are built on scientific findings from a number of relevant disciplines identifying players’ needs, various aspects of safety, performance, durability, quality assurance and playing comfort. A global network of universities, test institutes, sports organisations and standardisation bodies are at the heart of the studies produced by the FIFA Quality Programme.
Besides technical requirements, the FIFA Quality Programme also includes ethical standards. Product approval and certification depends on compliance with ethical business practices in terms of child labour, working hours, health and safety requirements, and environmental responsibility as laid down in the code of conduct of the World Federation of Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI). If a product proves to be compliant with the standards, the product can be certified by FIFA and will be awarded one of the FIFA QUALITY labels. The different quality categories have been tailored according to the needs of the players.’’ – FIFA (read more here)
About FIH
The Fédération Internationale de Hockey (International Hockey Federation) commonly known by the acronym FIH, is the international governing body of field hockey and indoor field hockey.
It is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland and is responsible for field hockey’s major international tournaments, notably the World Cup.
FIH was founded on 7 January 1924 in Paris. In 1982, the FIH merged with the International Federation of Women’s Hockey Associations (IFWHA). In total, there are 138 member associations within the five confederations recognised by FIH. This includes Great Britain which is recognised as an adherent member of FIH. The team was represented at the Olympics and the Champions Trophy. England, Scotland and Wales are also represented by separate teams in FIH sanctioned tournaments.
About World Athletics
World Athletics (since October 2019~) was formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations, both abbreviated as IAAF.
It is the international governing body for the sport of athletics, and it covers track and field, cross country running, road running, racewalking, mountain running and ultrarunning.
Included in its charge is the standardisation of rules and regulations for the sports, recognition and management of world records, and the organisation and sanctioning of athletics competitions, including the World Athletics Championships.
World Athletics organises many major athletics competitions worldwide. The processes that led to the founding of World Athletics began in Stockholm, Sweden on 17 July 1912.
About ITF
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis.
It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation and today it is affiliated with 211 national tennis associations and six regional associations.
The ITF’s governance responsibilities include maintaining and enforcing the rules of tennis, regulating international team competitions, promoting the game, and preserving the sport’s integrity via anti-doping and anti-corruption programs.
Regional associations were created in July 1975 as six supra-national associations: Europe, Asia, Africa, North America, South America, and Australia. The goal was to decrease the gap between the ILTF and national associations. These evolved into the current regional associations.
About World Rugby
World Rugby is the world governing body for the sport of rugby union. They organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport’s most recognised and profitable competition.
It also organises a number of international rugby competitions such as the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the World Under 20 Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup.
World Rugby is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Its membership comprises of 120 national unions. Each member country must also be a member of one of the six regional unions into which the world is divided.
World Rugby was founded as the International Rugby Football Board (IRFB) in 1886 by Scotland, Wales and Ireland, with England joining in 1890. It took up its current name of World Rugby in November 2014.
About FIBA
Constant control and inspection of facilities and/or equipment is required to meet the objective of attaining a high standard of quality, safety and technology.
In the FIBA Approval Programme for Basketball Equipment, manufacturers of approved equipment must meet certain requirements. Sports Labs is an independent FIBA Accredited Test Institute that runs test in accordance with the precise procedures specified in the FIBA Handbook of Test Methods and Requirements.
Sports Labs tests basketballs, backstop units, wooden flooring, synthetic flooring, floor coatings, maintenance products, scoreboards, videoboard software, electric and electronic systems, seating systems and miscellaneous products, including court stickers, whistles and mouthguards.
Sports Labs Memberships
About ISSS
The International Society for the Systems Sciences (ISSS) is among the first and oldest organisations devoted to interdisciplinary inquiry into the nature of complex systems, and it remains perhaps the most broadly inclusive.
The society was initially conceived in 1954 at the Stanford Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. It was formally established as an affiliate of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1956.
The initial purpose of the society was “to encourage the development of theoretical systems which are applicable to more than one of the traditional departments of knowledge.”
In the intervening years, the ISSS expanded its scope beyond purely theoretical and technical considerations to include the practical application of systems methodologies to problem solving.
About ASTM
Sports Labs is a member of ASTM International, formerly known as the American Society for Testing and Materials, an international standards organisation that develops and publishes voluntary consensus technical standards for a wide range of materials, products, systems, and services.
ASTM International has no role in requiring or enforcing compliance with its standards. The standards, however, may become mandatory when referenced by an external contract, corporation, or government.
In the United States, ASTM standards have been adopted by incorporation or by reference in many federal, state, and municipal government regulations.
The National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act that was passed in 1995 requires the federal government to use privately-developed consensus standards whenever possible.
About ASBA
The American Sports Builders Association, a non-profit trade association comprised of builders, designers and suppliers for sports facilities, exists to promote the highest standards of design, construction and maintenance.
The organisation was founded in 1965 as the U.S. Tennis Court & Track Builders Association (USTC & TBA) by a group of contractors who recognised the need for a group that could help address mutual problems, set industry standards and keep informed on issues.
The name was changed in 2004 to reflect the broad range of work performed by its members.
ASBA works to raise professional standards and to insure that consumers receive services of the highest quality. It sponsors a certification program for competency and it issues certificates to those successfully completing a test on all areas of construction.
Sports Labs Certifications
About ISSS
The United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) is the sole national accreditation body recognised by the British government to assess the competence of organisations that provide certification, testing, inspection and calibration services.
It evaluates these conformity assessment bodies and then accredits them when they are found to meet relevant internationally specified standards.
UKAS assesses conformity assessment bodies for competence against internationally recognised standards. It validates the competence of organisations to provide conformity assessment tasks and issues accreditation certificates and schedules showing the limits of the accreditation for a particular conformity assessment body.
It permits the use of the UKAS mark on accredited certification if it includes a UKAS accreditation number.
About ISO 9001:2015
Sports Labs is ISO 9001:2015 certified. ISO 9001:2015 is the most recent revision of the ISO 9001 Quality Management Standard, replacing ISO 9001:2008 as of September 2018.
ISO 9001 is the International Standard for Quality Management Systems, first published in 1987 by the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO), it is one of the most commonly used management tools across the world.
ISO 9001 certification means Sports Labs has a framework in place that helps to ensure consistent quality in the provision of its goods and services. This standard uses a process approach and is based on seven quality management principles which include a strong customer focus, the involvement of management, and a drive for continuous improvement.
Sports Labs has never failed to meet ISO standards.