Issue of artificial turf will stain the Women’s World Cup: Canadian Hall of Famer

By

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – With top female soccer players abandoning their lawsuit against the Canadian Soccer Association and FIFA over the use of artificial turf at this summer’s World Cup in Canada, a former national team member says the issue will still stain the tournament.

“Quite frankly, I don’t think any other nation would consider putting the tournament on turf, really,” says Carrie Serwetnyk, the first woman to enter the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame.

“The next one, I believe, will probably be in France. They’re not going to put the tournament on turf. Welcome to Canada — this is what we did.”

Despite the fact this lawsuit has been dropped, Serwetnyk says the fact Canada has decided to go ahead with artificial turf is going to continue to be a talking point before, during and after the tournament, suggesting no other country would tolerate this.

“Hopefully, it’s the beginning of talking about important issues [related to equality in the game],” says Swerwetnyk. “But I also think now there’s going to be a shadow over the tournament.”

The lead player in the lawsuit, US national team star Abby Wambach, has released a statement expressing hope this brings more focus to equality issues in the game.

Top Stories

Top Stories

Most Watched Today