Controversy has been brewing for years in the world of soccer.. Men play on grass. The women’s team plays often on turf–much to the chagrin and protest of the players who are forced to showcase their talents on chemically enhanced field of fraud..
That same controversy has now spilled over into action, causing a game cancellation and refund of tickets of fans who had purchased them for today in Hawaii.
The game was set for the Ahoha Stadium..
During a practice run Friday, star player and potential Olympian Megan Rapinoe injured herself, tearing her anterior cruciate ligament and setting off a series of motions leading to the cancellation of today’s game.
Safety concerns have led to the call-off the game// U.S. Soccer now being forced to refund those who had tickets..
While there is no official cause or blame being placed on the artificial turf, player Hope Solo seems to be indicating the reason, at least, for the players abandoning the game over safety concerns, tweeting this out:
The audience set for today: 50,000 people in the stadium.. and lots of viewers on FOX SPORTS 1..
U.S. Soccer released a statement saying they had determined that “the artificial turf surface is not suitable to hold an international soccer match.” The organization tested the playing surface during the WNT’s training session on Saturday and they made the decision to cancel the match after looking at all possible options available to get the field in a playable condition.
Aloha Stadium manager Scott Chan stated, “We are extremely disappointed that this event will not take place at Aloha Stadium. U.S. Soccer officials informed us that this game will not be played at approximately nine this evening. We feel the people of Hawaii deserve to see an international soccer match of this caliber, however, we were unable to reach an agreement with U.S. Soccer to allow this event to happen.”
There have been widespread concerns over artificial turf for years. Tire parts and other chemicals are apparent. High schools across the nation have even had controversy over football players utilizing the faux fields.
In June of this year, the situation boiled over in global media when the women’s team and other decried the females being forced onto turf while the men, some would say, never would even consider anything but the real thing.
Now with this cancellation, the controversy is sure to continue. Fans are well aware of the issue. Some may be angry at the game’s unpredictable finale. Others may be very forgiving given the circumstances in question.
