Several women, including professional soccer players Abby Wambach and Alex Morgan, are reportedly taking issue with the fact that FIFA is planning on hosting the Women's World Cup in 2015 on artificial turf. They say it's sexist and dangerous and that professional female athletes are being treated like guinea pigs. Statistically, turf causes more injuries than grass. Also, players tend to dislike the feel of it. So why are these women being subjected to turf during the sport's most important championship? Because, The Patriarchy, that's why.
According to FIFA, the decision to stage the Women's World Cup on turf is an experiment, even though the venues for the next two Men's World Cup Tournaments have been decided already (they're on grass).
If you ask the women, however, it's just plain wrong (via Time):
"'It's a gender issue through and through,' says Wambach. 'This being the pinnacle of our sport, we feel like we should be treated just like the men.'"
It's not only insulting, it's going to result in poorer play. Players know better than to take risky moves on hard, unforgiving turf:
"I'm not going in for a diving header...no way.
"There's not a person on the planet that would prefer playing on it, not even Sepp Blatter."
Portland forward Alex Morgan believes the same thing. She says experimenting with women's soccer isn't cool (via TMZ):
"They are treating us as second class to the men... using the women as guinea pigs in their experiment is just not right."
The ladies are currently petitioning for FIFA to change the venue, but so far, to no avail.
Truth is, no one likes playing on turf. It's an abomination and should be gotten rid of.
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