FIFA have agreed that the Women's World Cup can be played on an artificial pitch in Canada. Players up in arms, saying it increases the chance of injury. And they don't usually play on such pitches. Some are suing FIFA for sex discrimination...which as men wouldn't be made to compete on such surfaces is valid...though I suspect they are appealing on those grounds as the most likely to get success. Is this Qatar all over again? Are FIFA stupid (the most likely scenario) or are they using the women as guinea pigs for the future of the men's game?
Like Qatar, I think FIFA have given the WC to a country without insisting that the said country has to be able to stage a tournament in the usual manner. After it's been awarded, Canada have said that they can't manage enough proper football pitches...so FIFA have said that's okay, do your best.
Once again women get shafted, being forced to accept something which no-one would ever expect of men's football. Women footballers, even from the top teams, are forced to put up with stuff which would be unfathomable in the men's game. For example, top sides being forced to train at schools, or playing their home games not even in the city or town they represent, or having to go from homeground to homeground just to find somewhere to play or having to go to men's team grounds with collection buckets to raise enough money to survive, like f**ing beggars. And at the drop of the hat, the men's team can decide to turn around and say "Piss off, you're no longer using our name/kits/colours" ala what's happened with Leeds UNITED (I don't care what that tosspot owner says) and Huddersfield Town. How about Chelsea (men) try playing their home games in Staines? Or Arsenal (men) playing their home games in Boreham f**ing Wood? Oh but that would never happen, but it's perfectly fine to chuck the ladies team out into the middle of nowhere. Who cares? They're just women after all, they should be in the kitchen making f**ing sandwiches all f**ing day. The amount of causal (and not so causal) sexism in football is unbelievable, why should women be guinea pigs for men? Are women just put on this earth to serve men? f** that s**t and f** Fifa (and the FA who are the biggest bunch of ****ing hypocrites, still not having publicly apologised for banning women's football from FA registered grounds in the 1920s). As you can tell, I have very strong feelings on this matter.
There is enough money swishing around in the FA to help out women's football. The present England ladies team is doing the business, so getting some attention, but it is grassroots football (women and men) who need help. It is disgraceful to play a major tournament on artificial pitches...these are athletes for heaven's sake. Can you imagine if United were told Rooney was playing a 4 week tournament on artificial pitches....scrub that, the men's team would be out after 2 weeks.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/28667254 Found this on the BBC site...they mention the suspicion I have that the women are being used as guinea pigs. Suggests two things 1) they don't care if the women get injured and 2) worryingly will be permitted at men's tournaments...so they continue to play WC matches in countries unsuitable for a summer tournament (like Qatar). Presumably football is played on artificial pitches in Canada, so they are gaining an advantage.
Seems that none of the English players have signed the petition against the artificial pitches. Perhaps they arent that bad? And didnt the English men play against Russia on an artificial pitch in qualifying a while back?
I play on artificial pitches all the time, I actually prefer them to grass and have never got an injury. *touch wood* I think it's being blown out of proportion - Wales only played on artificial pitch a month ago against Andorra.
Modern artificial pitches are very good nothing like the old carpet ones (less leg burns and a lot softer). They are brilliant for grass root level especially for kids as they make them pass and control the ball properly. A lot better than a grass pitch which looks more like a cabbage patch than football pitch. I once played on a grass pitch where standing was a issue. Saying this nothing beats playing on a well kept grass pitch and elite football should be played on grass.
So in that case, why not make Euro 2016 take place on artificial pitches? Whether the pitches are artificial or not is not the main issue IMO, instead it's that: 1) Women are forced to do things that you wouldn't expect in the men's game 2) That women are being used as guinea pigs for men.
Are you a professional and the peak of fitness? As for the Wales game, that was one game. The concern over injuries is not about "you play a game on artificial pitch and it bites you, giving you an injury"... it is about several games in a very short period of time and the effect this can have on a professionals body.
Are we talking rubber crumb? Stupid stuff comes out of your socks, ears and butt for weeks after a game. Grrr.
Those stadiums are used for professional and/or international men's athletic events the vast majority of the time. For example, the Women's final will be played at BC Stadium, which is where the Vancouver Whitecaps of the MLS play. The Montreal Impact play in Olympic Stadium occasionally. So no, the women aren't being used as "guinea pigs." There's no question that Blatter/FIFA are disgustingly sexist. But in this instance only two countries applied to host: Canada, and Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe withdrew (and I'm pretty sure the women would be complaining even more if the WC were hosted there). The reality is, women's soccer is not popular enough in most countries. Unlike the men's game where countries will bribe FIFA officials millions of dollars and waste further hundreds of millions building/repurposing stadiums, Canada was pretty much the only country that would host the World Cup. Unfortunately, it's cold in Canada and it is hard to grow turf. Thus, they often use artificial turf, including in many of their CFL stadiums (which are the same ones hosting the Cup games) which is the biggest outdoor pro sport in Canada. In that respect, the women are not being treated any differently then men athletes in that country. If you demand that Women's World Cup matches be played in 50K stadiums equipped with natural turf just like the Men's WC, then there just won't be a Women's World Cup. I'd be more sympathetic with the women if they complained that no international matches for either gender be played on artificial turf. If it's a dangerous and/or inferior surface, then it's that way for everyone. I can't get down with the notion that it is just fine for men and women to play on artificial turf in all sorts of countries at many different levels including top domestic leagues, and it is fine for men to play international matches on artificial turf. But a women's World Cup on artificial turf is somehow a human rights violation. I would prefer the women just boycott the tournament rather than go through the courts if they felt that strongly about not playing on artificial turf.
But would the men's World Cup be played on artificial pitches? The odd intentional match, sure, but the pinnacle event of international football? Not a chance.
But that equivalency is only in your head. There's no reason why there should be a Women's World Cup that is exactly the same as the Men's World Cup and be the "pinnacle event." The only reason people think there is "discrimination" here is because it just so happens that FIFA hosts an event they call the Men's World Cup and one they call the Women's World Cup. But those are just names. FIFA isn't obligated to hold a Women's World Cup at all. Nor are women require to play in it, or treat it as the pinnacle event. It's like the French Open and Wimbledon in tennis. Or the British Open vs the Masters vs the LPGA championship in golf. Someone has an event with rules for participation, and it is hosted by someone on some sort of playing field and people are free to play in that event or not, and fans can think of it what they will. So what is happening here really is that some FIFA women footballers are unhappy with the way FIFA is handling a tournament. And as FIFA members they have every right to register their opinion. And I would be steamed as well. But it is purely a FIFA affair, not a governmental one. And while the women can and should demand more from any organization that claims to represent them, it's such a waste of time to go after FIFA because IMO, that organization is hopelessly sexist. And racist. And homophobic. And on top of that hopelessly corrupt and incompetent as well. Do you really want the FIFA Women's World Cup and Women's Leagues handled as badly as FIFA handles the men? Start your own organization and hold your own tournament and do it properly.
