Female soccer players threaten to sue FIFA over fake grass

A group of some of the best women’s soccer players in the world are threatening to take legal action against FIFA, the international organization that governs soccer, for gender discrimination because of fake grass.

The athletes are furious that the Women’s World Cup tournament next year, which will be hosted by Canada, will be played on artificial turf, something the female athletes claim would never happen in a men’s tournament.

“We just saw the World Cup in Brazil. We just know there’s absolutely no way the men would play on fake grass. It would be a scandal,” said Carrie Serwetnyk, a former national player who founded the non-profit organization Equal Play. “So to think it’s OK for the Women’s World Cup to be played on artificial turf, what kind of a message does that send?”

“The lawsuit takes it to another platform. It means the powers that be will have to take responsibility,” Serwetnyk said, adding that professional-level soccer competitions should always be played on real grass. “Soccer is all about touch. [Real grass] is a better touch. During the World Cup, we saw players go sliding and landing in all kinds of directions. They have the privilege of landing on grass, which isn’t as hard,” she said.

Artificial turf is considered by most people to be inferior to actual grass, especially for top-level soccer players. In response to Canada’s decision to use fake grass, a group of female athletes have sent a letter to Canadian officials and Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, saying that artificial turf id a “second-class surface”.

“Consigning women to a second-class surface is gender discrimination that violates European charters and numerous provisions of Canadian law, including human rights codes and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” reads part of a letter that the group of more than 40 athletes sent to FIFA on July 28, but was just obtained by Fox Sports this week.

“We know there’s no doubt that the men would not be asked to play on a second-class surface for their world class tournament. They weren’t this year in Brazil, it’s already been established that the men’s World Cup tournaments in 2018 and 2022 will be on grass. There’s no reason the women should be treated as second-class,” said Hampton Dellinger, a lawyer representing the group of players.

Read more about the story at Fox Sports.