In the past, soccer in America tended to fly under the radar compared to other sports. However, after this summer’s past FIFA Men’s World Cup in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil, soccer grew in popularity across the country and surfaced on the covers of newspapers and magazines. Nowadays, soccer is still surfacing all over the news but for a different, more controversial reason: the turf war that is ensuing over the 2016 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The debate that has taken center stage of the Women’s World Cup is whether or not the athletes of the 2016 World Cup, which will occur in Canada, will play on artificial turf or grass. Soccer fans, officials, and even players from all around the world have joined together to protest the use of turf in the World Cup.
Turf has never been used before to play World Cup matches before, and the idea that it would be introduced in the Women’s World Cup is outraging players and women’s soccer fans across the country. Players argue that playing on turf poses a safety issue because turf is less forgiving than grass. Not only that, but the argument against using turf in the World Cup is also about equity between men’s and women’s soccer. Men were never asked to play on turf fields, so it is unfair that the women are subjected to playing on these artificial surfaces.
When it comes to men’s and women’s soccer, the women’s side has usually been pushed to the back burner while the men’s side shines and thrives. Money, funding, and advertisement tend to be directed to men’s soccer, and is a main reason for the increase in popularity of the sport, but only for the men’s. The National Women’s Soccer League has repeatedly faced its share of problems, including the threat of being shut down in America.
The issue of equity between male and female sports has been a debate that has lasted throughout the years, and is now resurfacing in American soccer. It is time that the women’s side of soccer gets their chance to shine. The World Cup is a big chance to show fans of the game all over the country and the world that women’s team is just as entertaining and fulfilling to watch as men’s games. However, the only way to let them shine is give them the equal chance, meaning in this turf war, grass triumphs against artificial turf.
Courtesy of Fifa.com
