FIFA Women’s World Cup Set for Kick-Off on Artificial Turf

At the time of writing, with only 14 days left before the start of the largest single sports event for women in the world, the FIFA Women’s World Cup soccer tournament, it appears the controversy over use of artificial turf at the six Canadian host stadiums has been set aside.

Complaints from players over the use of artificial turf versus real grass triggered a human rights complaint from a group of elite female players last year, citing their male counterparts were not subject to playing on what high level footballers commonly consider an inferior surface.

The complaint was subsequently dropped and did not spark a switch to natural grass however plans for major changes to both Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium and Vancouver’s BC Place Stadium were put into place.

Don Hardman, chief of stadia for the tournament's national organizing committee, said changes are being made in Edmonton and Vancouver despite both surfaces meeting FIFA's 2-Star standards when last tested.

"Not only are we trying to ensure that all the turf across the country meets all the technical specifications but there's still some intangible qualities that we'd like to ensure are top-notch, whether it's the player performance and perception of the surface," Hardman said in an interview. "And also aesthetically how it presents itself to the international TV audience are also key considerations that we've tried to address in those two markets."

With 24 national teams participating, the tournament is set to kick-off in six host cities on June 6th:  Edmonton, Alberta; Moncton, New Brunswick; Montreal, Quebec; Ottawa, Ontario; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Winnipeg, Manitoba.