Women's World Cup: FIFA dismisses discriminations claims over artificial turf

FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke has said it is "a nonsense" to suggest playing the Women's World Cup on artificial turf next summer is an indication of discrimination.

Valcke, speaking on the eve of the Canada 2015 draw, defended the world governing body's commitment to the women's game after a group of elite women players mounted a legal challenge to the decision to play matches on artificial pitches.

The lawsuit, filed under Ontario's Human Rights Code, has come from players including American star forward Abby Wambach and cites gender discrimination, with the argument it should be a tournament played on grass, as every men's World Cup has been.

Valcke said: "I'm amazed by the size, or the scale, of the discussion and where we are when it's about artificial pitches.

"Why? Because we have decided at FIFA - and it's part of our statutes and regulations - that artificial pitches can be used as natural grass to make sure we can play football everywhere around the world. That's a principle.

"The principle that when you're going into a country and the country is using artificial pitches, and the country is asking FIFA for the authorisation to use artificial pitches for a competition they have received from FIFA, the executive committee can make the decision to authorise the use of artificial pitches.

"I can tell you for 2019, when a decision will be taken next March for the next women's World Cup, we have two candidates - France and South Korea. Both will use natural grass and that's it, there are no discussions.

"If anyone is saying the use of the artificial pitch is a question of discrimination, it's a nonsense.

"It's completely crazy to say that. It has nothing to do with discrimination."

Valcke added: "I want everyone to understand that we at FIFA are working every day to develop women's football around the world."

Valcke also said goal-line technology would be implemented and tournament prize money would increase to £9.6m - a 50 per cent rise from the 2011 tournament.

The prize pot for the 2014 men's World Cup was £370m and pre-empting an expected question about the gulf between those figures, Valcke said: "That's not even a question I will answer because it's a nonsense."

Asked why he considered it such, Valcke said: "It's a difficult question, but I would say the first answer is we play the 30th men's World Cup in 2014, when we are playing the seventh women's World Cup, so things can grow step by step.

"We have still another 23 World Cups before potentially women should receive the same amount as men. They've waited until 2014 to receive as much money as they receive.

"Also, the men's World Cup pays for all. The men's World Cup pays for all the 20 FIFA World Cups we organise - under-17, under-20, men and women, Club World

Cup, futsal, beach soccer - all is financed by the men's World Cup, which brings directly 4.5 billion US (dollars) to FIFA."