The CSA's statement in full, without editing:
On Thursday 9 October 2014, the Canadian Soccer Association has filed a response to the application by the players on national teams participating in FIFA Women’s World Cup 2015TM requesting an expedited hearing before the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario on the use of football turf for the competition.
The Canadian Soccer Association opposes the application to expedite the hearing in this matter on the basis that the complainants – only 7 out of 550 players, none of whom are residents of Ontario or under contract with a Canadian team – have been aware of the type of surface that had been selected for the competition for as long as three years yet have chosen to wait to the last minute to exercise their rights and bring a complaint forward, without providing justification for the delay.
The Canadian Soccer Association is prepared to vigorously defend its position and believes the complaint is entirely without merit; it should not however have to do so in an expedited process.
The use of high quality turf is integral to soccer in Canada, and the suggestion that having matches played on first class football turf rather than grass would be discrimination based on gender trivializes that important human right.
Should the complaint proceed, the Canadian Soccer Association will demonstrate that there is no proven increased risk to players from the use of football turf over grass, as supported by numerous independent studies. Moreover, a string of studies have repeatedly confirmed with scientific evidence that there is no difference in the playing patterns when played on quality-controlled turf, contrary to arguments put forward in the complaint.
Quality football turf is an essential component of this competition and the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015TM National Organizing Committee’s efforts to promote and grow the beautiful game in Canada. As a standard practice, an independent consultant joined the FIFA delegation in Canada over the past two weeks to inspect the six stadiums' playing surfaces to ensure they meet the FIFA 2-Star football turf requirements. Additionally, the National Organizing Committee has engaged a certified testing agency, which is currently testing all stadium pitches to ensure that the performance standards of the FIFA 2-Star programme are met in all venues. All certification steps for stadium pitches are expected to be completed by early 2015.
Hosting the FIFA Women's World Cup will give Canada the opportunity to further develop women's football both domestically and internationally, and the Canadian Soccer Association is proud to be giving back to Canadians and women's sport in a substantial and impactful way.
The Canadian Soccer Association has retained Joseph Arvay Q.C., a prominent constitutional law attorney experienced in civil liberties and human rights claims, as counsel on this matter.
End statement --
On note: A CONCACAF source informed CSN that two of the seven women involved in the filing have requested that their names be removed. They say that they were mislead into thinking they were signing a petition rather than a human rights complaint.