Wambach leads elite soccer players' lawsuit

AMERICAN SOCCER star Abby Wambach and a group of elite international players filed a lawsuit in Canada yesterday challenging plans to play the 2015 Women's World Cup on artificial turf.

Led by U.S. national team forward Wambach, the players filed the suit at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal in Toronto, attorney Hampton Dellinger told the Associated Press.

The women claim that playing the sport's premier tournament on fake grass amounts to gender discrimination under Canadian law. Their male counterparts have always played the World Cup on natural grass surfaces and will for the foreseeable future.

The players say there is a greater risk of injury on artificial turf, and the surface impacts both how the game is played and how the ball moves.

Among the athletes joining Wambach are U.S. teammate Alex Morgan, Germany's Nadine Angerer, Brazil's Fabiana Da Silva Simoes and Spain's Veronica Boquete.

On Tuesday, a FIFA official visiting Canada ahead of the tournament next year said there were no plans to reconsider using artificial turf.

FIFA has appointed an independent examiner to make sure the turf at the six venues meets its strict guidelines for top-tier tournaments. The consultant is traveling with a FIFA delegation currently inspecting the sites.

Canada's bid for the event specified that the final match be played at Vancouver's BC Place, which seats 55,000 and has an artificial turf.

The U.S. team will play this month in the championships for soccer's North and Central American and Caribbean region, which serves as qualifying for the World Cup next year. The eight-team, round robin tournament opens for the Americans Oct. 15 in Kansas City, Kan.

The final will be held Oct. 26 at PPL Park in Chester.

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