Players at this year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, trying to settle a lawsuit against FIFA, will play on artificial turf as long as the final matches are on natural grass, their lawyer said on Monday.
The proposal is the latest twist in a rolling dispute that picked up steam in August last year when players said a proposal to play the June 6 to July 5 tournament in Canada on artificial turf was discriminatory and violated human rights.
“The battle over the use of plastic pitches at the women’s World Cup can easily and quickly come to a peaceful resolution,” attorney Hampton Dellinger said in a statement. “All FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association need to do is accept the players’ feasible, affordable and more than fair deal.”
The players, who filed a lawsuit against soccer’s governing body and the Canadian Soccer Association last year, are now proposing playing all but the semi-final, third-place playoff and final matches on artificial turf.
The proposal lays out how top quality grass fields could be prepared for and installed in each of the three stadiums hosting the tournament’s final two rounds.
According to the proposal, the plan is modeled on systems used successfully for previous FIFA men’s and women’s World Cups and is approved by leading world experts on sports grass.
“The players continue to believe a women’s World Cup should not be singled out for field conditions men’s World Cups have never been subjected to, but this settlement offer represents a good-faith attempt at compromise,” the proposal said.
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