FIFA Insists Women Play On Turf, Even Though They Hate It

The 2015 women's World Cup is still quite a long way off, but that doesn't mean that FIFA isn't already working hard on alienating the participants. No organization is better at being the worst than FIFA, except for maybe SMERSH.

Sepp Blatter seems to believe that artificial turf is the playing surface of the future, and that it will eventually replace natural grass on soccer fields all over the world. With this in mind, FIFA has decided to use the women's World Cup as a testing ground by using artificial turf in place of grass at the upcoming tournament.

The problem here is that soccer players really, really hate playing on turf. This is why:

They hate it so much that top international female players around the world have been urging FIFA to let them play on grass. American star Abby Wambach is leading the charge, and sees this as a gender issue. From The New York Times:

"It's a gender issue through and through," Wambach said, pointing out that a top men's competition like the World Cup or the Champions League final has never been played on it.

"This being the pinnacle of our sport," Wambach added, "We feel like we should be treated just like the men."

Other star players, like Alex Morgan, Sydney Leroux, Heather O'Reilly, and Germany's Nadine Angerer, have gone public with their displeasure at FIFA's insistence on using turf. Wambach even created a petition, which has been signed by over 4,000 people, including 50 players from national teams around the world.

As it stands now, it doesn't look like FIFA is going to change its mind, and the players haven't yet said that they will boycott the World Cup if it is played on turf. It's more than likely that nothing will change, and the women's World Cup will be played on a surface that the players hate.

[ NYT]