The elite international soccer players suing over artificial turf fields at the 2015 Canada Women鈥檚 World Cup announced this week they will stop their legal action.
鈥淥n behalf of the players, I want to thank all who aided our fight for natural grass fields at the 2015 World Cup, including our volunteer lawyers from Canada and the United States,鈥� said U.S. captain Abby Wambach in a prepared statement. 鈥淥ur legal action has ended. But I am hopeful that the players鈥� willingness to contest the unequal playing fields 鈥� and the tremendous public support we received during the effort 鈥� marks the start of even greater activism to ensure fair treatment when it comes to women鈥檚 sports.鈥�
Lead lawyer Hampton Dellinger said FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association were 鈥渙blivious鈥� to the women鈥檚 request for equality. The men鈥檚 tournament has always been played on grass.
A statement read, 鈥淪ince a coalition of the world鈥檚 best female soccer players initiated legal action, the tactics of FIFA and CSA have included: threatening protesting players with suspension, doing everything possible to delay a final court ruling despite the players鈥� need to know what surface the tournament will be held on so they can train accordingly, suggesting they would either defy an adverse court ruling or cancel the tournament and, most recently, rejecting the players鈥� undeniably fair settlement offer. The players are doing what FIFA and CSA have proven incapable of: putting the sport of soccer first.鈥�
Activist and Canadian soccer veteran Carrie Serwetnyk said the 2015 World Cup will be played under a shadow.
