PHILADELPHIA - All matches at this summer's Women's World Cup in Canada will be played on artificial turf, FIFA reiterated Friday.
At a news briefing promoting women's soccer, Tatjana Haenni, head of FIFA women's competitions, said 'the topic should be over by now. There have been so many talks about it. There is no plan to change any turf.'
Recent proposals to stage some late-round games on grass were rejected.
FIFA officials met with several prominent female players in Zurich this week.
'The discussion was very open and frank, and a very good one,' Haenni said. 'Both sides had their opinions and it was a good talk.'
In conjunction with the Canadian Soccer Association, FIFA will evaluate the quality of the artificial surfaces in each of the six venues, Haenni said.
Players have expressed particular concern about the field at Vancouver's BC Place, the site of nine matches, including the July 5 championship game. If that surface and others - for both matches and practices - do not meet standards, organizers will replace them with new artificial fields, Haenni said.
The 24-team tournament will begin June 6. Aside from Vancouver, the host cities are Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and Moncton (New Brunswick). Canada's premier soccer venue, Toronto's grass-covered BMO Field, was not available because of scheduling conflicts with preparations for this summer's Pan Am Games.
Canada's bid to host the Women's World Cup, submitted four years ago, laid out plans to play in stadiums with artificial turf. In the past year, however, numerous players have campaigned for a change to grass, the preferred surface worldwide. Last fall, players filed a lawsuit in hopes of forcing FIFA and Canadian organizers to switch.
With the competition 4 1/2 months away, Haenni said, 'at one point there is a time you need to focus on football. All those coaches and players want to win the World Cup. There is a time you need to accept certain environment or infrastructure conditions, whatever it is.
'I am really hopeful that - hopefully, hopefully - we will accept it and concentrate on the football.'
Both countries bidding for the 2019 Women's World Cup, France and South Korea, have proposed grass fields only.
The men's World Cup has never used artificial turf, but FIFA has not ruled out using it in the future. Several FIFA junior tournaments, both men and women, have been played on turf.
Most of the nine teams in the National Women's Soccer League, the U.S. circuit entering its third season, play on artificial turf.
[ World Cup schedule]
In other women's soccer news ...
The U.S. Soccer Federation is close to announcing venues and opponents for four national team friendlies at home leading to the World Cup. There will be one match in April and three in May.
In the NWSL draft this morning, Virginia midfielder Morgan Brian, the two-time Hermann Trophy winner, was selected No. 1 overall by the Houston Dash.
The rest of the first round, dominated by two teams ...
2. Sky Blue (New Jersey): UCLA midfielder Sarah Killion
3. Western New York Flash: UCLA defender Abigail Dahlkemper
4. WNY Flash: UCLA midfielder Samantha Mewis
5. Chicago Red Stars: Boston College midfielder Stephanie McCaffrey
6. WNY Flash: Pepperdine forward Lynn Williams
7. WNY Flash: Texas Tech defender-midfielder Jaelene Hinkle
8. Chicago Red Stars: Kentucky defender-forward Arin Gilliland
9. Chicago Red Stars: Virginia midfielder Danielle Colaprico