A coalition of women's soccer players led by U.S. F Abby Wambach "has withdrawn its gender discrimination suit," despite the fact that FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association "refused to consider the use of grass fields" for this summer's Women's World Cup, according to Kevin Baxter of the L.A. TIMES. Players' attorney Hampton Dellinger said, "While the lawsuit did not end with the grass fields the players deserve, I think it was a success in many ways -- including highlighting how unacceptable it would be to play a World Cup final on the existing BC Place carpet." Dellinger said that as a result of the legal action, the surface at BC Place "will be replaced," and "goal-line technology will be used for the first time in a women's World Cup" (L.A. TIMES, 1/22). In N.Y., Andrew Das notes the players "banded together in 2013 to protest the plan to use artificial turf at the World Cup, arguing that doing so was dangerous and discriminatory, and noting that major men’s competitions are always played on natural grass." Their campaign "gained momentum on social media, with many of the players using their large Twitter followings" -- and support from the likes of Lakers F Kobe Bryant and actor Tom Hanks -- "to draw attention to the issue" (N.Y. TIMES, 1/22). The GLOBE & MAIL's David Shoalts notes FIFA "has denied threatening any of the players as a result of the complaint, and the CSA remained silent save for a statement" (GLOBE & MAIL, 1/22).
SALES GOAL: CSA General Secretary Peter Montopoli said there have been "over 400,000" ticket packages sold for the Women's World Cup. Montopoli: "We’re looking forward to moving over to the single-match tickets becoming available Feb. 6 (using a Visa card) and Feb. 26 if you have any regular credit card." He said of achieving a goal of having 1.5 million spectators, "We're exactly where we thought we'd be." In Edmonton, John MacKinnon noted the pace of sales is "comparable to what was achieved" in '07, when Canada hosted the men's U-20 World Cup and "reached 1.2 million spectators." Of the 1.5 million, Montopoli's estimate "had been that one-third of sales would be packages, with the rest in single-game sales" (EDMONTON JOURNAL, 1/21).
