Some of the most famous female soccer stars in the world could sue FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association next week regarding the matter of playing on turf in the 2015 Women’s World Cup.
The latter two organizations missed a Friday deadline to reconsider using artificial turf on the fields for next summer’s tournament. A draft of the lawsuit,
obtained by For The Win, argues that forcing women to compete on this hard surface rather than grass is gender discrimination, which violates Canadian law, because every men’s World Cup since 1930 has been played on grass.
Players such as Abby Wambach, Alex Morgan, Germany’s Nadine Angerer, the reigning FIFA Player of the Year, as well as several players from other countries are named in the suit. No one from Canada is, however.
U.S. players and their supporters have been vocal about not wanting to play on turf because it’s rougher than grass–it can cut up players legs while sliding, due in large part to the small rubber pellets that anchor the surface. That same surface doesn’t give like natural grass, which can also heighten the risk of injury.
Kobe Bryant recently Instagrammed a graphic photo of his friend
Sydney Leroux’s legs post-sliding on turf to bring awareness.
Hampton Dellinger, the lead attorney for the players, said the players have no choice.
“The discriminatory proposal of FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association to stage the 2015 women’s World Cup on artificial turf, coupled with their refusal to discuss ways to fix the mistake, have left the players with no choice,” he said in a statement. “It is now time to ask the courts to stop FIFA and CSA from forcing elite athletes to compete under game-changing, dangerous and demeaning conditions.”
The players sent FIFA president Sepp Blatter and CSA executives a “final notice” of their intention to sue on Wednesday, but hadn’t received any feedback as of Friday afternoon.
The cost to install grass in all six stadiums could cost between $3 million to $6 million.
