Players officially file lawsuit against FIFA, CSA over artificial turf at 2015 Women’s World Cup

9 years ago | Posted in: Sports | 888 Views

A lawsuit has officially been filed by a group of women’s international soccer players against FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association regarding the use of artificial turf at the 2015 Women’s World Cup. The players say that it is gender discrimination to not be playing on natural grass and that men would never have to play a World Cup on artificial turf.

The lawsuit was filed in an Ontario tribunal court on Wednesday. “This differential treatment constitutes a violation of section 1 of the Ontario Human Rights Code,” the lawsuit reads.

FIFA Deputy Director for Women’s Competitions Tatjana Haenni said on Tuesday that the 2015 World Cup will be played on turf and that “there’s no Plan B.” She is in Canada along with an independent group assessing the turf of all six venues to be used next year.

Players first threatened FIFA and Canada Soccer with a lawsuit in late July, but wanted to give the organizations time to respond. The group says that playing a World Cup on artificial turf — what they say is an “inferior” surface” is discriminatory. Every senior men’s World Cup has been played on natural grass. Recent youth World Cups, including the 2014 U-20 Women’s World Cup in Canada last month, have been staged on artificial surfaces. All six venues for next year’s World Cup are slated to have artificial turf.

Among the players on the list are past and present FIFA World Players of the Year Germany goalkeeper Nadine Angerer (current title holder), U.S. forward Abby Wambach and Brazil’s five-time World Player of the Year Marta. Also named in the lawsuit are U.S. internationals Alex Morgan and Heather O’Reilly, Spain captain Veronica Boquete and France’s Camille Abily…. see more

source: nbcnews

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