Wambach and co sue FIFA

Dissatisfied with the response of football's governing body, American star Abby Wambach and a group of elite national players have brought legal action against FIFA over plans to play the 2015 Women's World Cup on artificial turf. The players filed a lawsuit at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal in Toronto on Wednesday, claiming that playing the sport's premier tournament on fake grass amounts to gender discrimination under Canadian law. The suit names FIFA as well as the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA). The athletes say it is discrimination because their male counterparts have always played the World Cup on natural grass and will for the foreseeable future. They maintain there is a greater risk of injury on artificial turf, and the surface impacts both how the game is played and how the ball moves. Among the athletes joining Wambach are US teammate Alex Morgan, Germany's Nadine Angerer, Brazil's Fabiana Da Silva Simoes and Spain's Veronica Boquete. In an interview last month with The Associated Press, Wambach said she considered it a personal responsibility to take a leadership role in the issue. "We have to stand up and put our foot down and say, 'You know what? This isn't good enough. This isn't right and we deserve to be treated equally as the men,'" she said. On Tuesday, a FIFA official visiting Canada ahead of the tournament next year said there were no plans to reconsider using artificial turf. "We play on artificial turf and there's no Plan B," said Tatjana Haenni, FIFA's head of women's competitions. Six venues FIFA has appointed an independent examiner to make sure the turf at the six venues meets its strict guidelines for top-tier tournaments. The consultant is travelling with a FIFA delegation currently inspecting the sites. FIFA rules stipulate that matches can be played on artificial turf if special dispensation is granted, as it was in Canada's case. The regulations also state that all matches in a tournament must be played on the same type of surface, and that it must meet FIFA standards. Canada's bid for the event specified that the final match be played at Vancouver's BC Place, which seats 55 000 and has an artificial turf. But many players, including Wambach, have been voicing their objections since the bid was accepted. They sent a letter to FIFA and the CSA in July, saying they were prepared to take the legal action. Many players believe that FIFA and the Canadian federation could cover the six fields with sod. "Is it going to cost them a little bit of money? Yeah. Maybe a drop in the bucket for FIFA for the amount of money that they have," US player Megan Rapinoe said last month. TORONTO-NAMPA/AP