

FIFA Secretary-General Jérôme Valcke was on the hot seat at a press conference in Ottawa Friday, ahead of the Saturday’s official FIFA Women’s World Cup draw.



And his answers to questions about both the hot-button artificial turf issue and the disparity in prize money between the men’s and women’s World Cups won’t douse any of the flames any time soon.

“Because it’s a legal case going on, I don’t want to answer any questions or even to talk about the artificial pitch situation. I’m amazed about the size and scale of the discussion about artificial pitch,” said Valcke, who proceeded to do just that, after mentioning that FIFA has “not been served”, and so is not officially involved in the case.

Valcke also announced that GLT (goal-line technology) would be used at the women’s World Cup. And that because of the increase in the number of teams, the prize money will increase from $10 million to $15 million.

Valcke reiterated several points about the surface decision, the first of which being that it wasn’t that FIFA demanded that the women’s World Cup be played on artificial turf, but rather that its statutes mandate that it support the request made by the Canadians.

He also pointed to one qualifying game in Russia, against Germany, where an artificial pitch was used, one of “a number of games” FIFA has organized on artificial surfaces, including in the under-17 and under-20 competitions.

Valcke also pointed out – as if it were somehow relevant to the 2015 event – that France and South Korea, the two candidates in the running to host the eighth edition in 2019, both have decided to use natural grass.

So there will be no debate in four years, although Valcke added that what happens after that is still up in the air. “We’ll see what happens in 2023. It depends on the organizing countries, the different climactic conditions, the different organizations,” he said, looking somewhat aggravated by the line of questioning.

Canadian Soccer association president Victor Montagliano said that he hasn’t examined the study put forth by the group of players fighting for natural turf.

“Our bid was clear, was transparent from the get-go. It involves a lot more than the six stadiums; it involves the entire concept of legacy in this country. So what we’ll be leaving as well are the training pitches for our kids to play on," he said. “The stadiums that we use, unlike in Europe, are multi-use. There are some realities to that. So with respect to our bid, there was never any other concept contemplated at the time of the bid.”

Sitting right next to Montagliano on the dais, Canadian captain Christine Sinclair shifted in her chair a little bit, but showed no outward reaction.

View photos Canadian national women's team captain Christine Sinclair laughs with coach John Herdman (right) and World Cup organizing committee member Victor Montagliani during a FIFA Women's World Cup soccer news conference Friday. {The Canadian Press, Adrian Wyld) More

Valcke was appalled by the notion that the surface decision was gender-related, a major component of the players’ complaint.

“If anyone is saying the use of the artificial pitch is a question of discrimination, it’s nonsense, it’s completely crazy to say that,” he said. “FIFA did so much for women’s football over the years. We invested in it. … Every day we’re trying to develop women’s football around the world.”

Where Valcke descended into semantics was in his answer to a question about why, despite his insistence on the importance of keeping the channels of communication open, he wouldn’t participate in a conference call this week to discuss the issue with some of the biggest stars in women’s soccer including American Abby Wambach and 2013 player of the year Nadine Angerer of Germany.

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