FIFA secretary-general defends use of artificial pitches for 2015 Women's WC

FIFA secretary-general Jerome Valcke has defended the use of artificial pitches for the 2015 Women's World Cup and suggested that they could be used for men.

Nearly 50 players make up a group that has filed a lawsuit claiming sexual discrimination over the use of synthetic pitches instead of grass.

Valcke said that it would be very difficult to ensure grass pitches at all venues, adding that it could well be that sooner rather than later the men's World Cup would also be played on artificial pitches, The BBC reported.

The Frenchman added that the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA) proposed for the tournament to be played on artificial turf based on the fact that most sporting infrastructure in Canada is on artificial turf, primarily due to the extreme climate in the host country.

Valcke said that as has already been explained, this is not a question of money, or of differences between men's and women's events, but it is a matter of the natural conditions in Canada.

FIFA Women's Player of the Year winners Nadine Angerer of Germany and Abby Wambach of the USA are two of the players represented by lawyer Hampton Dellinger, who has begun legal proceedings against the CSA and football's world governing body at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.

Players from Australia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, France, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, South Korea and Spain are also involved in the action. England has qualified for the tournament, but no English player has signed the petition, the report added.