The Scottish Football Association (SFA) has queried the timing of survey results published by the Professional Footballers’ Association (PFA) in relation to artificial pitches, and labelled statements made by the body “misleading”.

Last week, the PFA published the results which revealed 73 per cent of the 705 professional players questioned would rather play on deteriorating grass than a 3G pitch, while 72 per cent believed that synthetic pitches were more likely to cause injuries.

However, the SFA said that it was “surprised” by the timing of publication, as the results formed part of a joint survey between the SFA and PFA – the Professional Player & Artificial Turf survey – conducted in 2013.

The governing body also said comments made by PFA chief executive Fraser Wishart about the variance in pitch quality and the risks they pose to players were “misleading”.

“While most players, given the choice, said they would prefer to play on natural grass, it is inaccurate and misleading to say ‘the vast majority of players wanted to avoid astroturf’. In actual fact, 42.5 per cent of respondents supported the use of synthetic surfaces in competitive matches,” said the SFA via a statement.

The SFA added that all 3G pitches used in league competition in Scotland are “required to be annually certified” to FIFA standards to satisfy Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) rules.

“The SPFL has also implemented an innovative ‘spot-testing’ protocol to ensure these standards are maintained throughout the season – the only league in the world to do so,” the statement continued.

A piece of British Medical Journal research – titled Risk of Injury on 3G Artificial Turf in Norwegian Professional Football – was put forward by the SFA. It showed that 17.1 injuries were incurred per 1,000 matches on natural grass compared with 17.6 injuries on artificial turf.

The SFA concluded: “Finally we welcome Fraser’s request to follow-up from our joint survey in 2013. An invite was extended to Stuart Lovell, PFA Scotland’s liaison officer, in May 2015 via sportslabs – the only FIFA-accredited 3G test house in Scotland and our partner in this area of work. To date they have received no reply.”

The PFA declined to comment.