Advertisement

New turf and goal-line technology showcased ahead of FIFA Women's World Cup

B.C. Place Stadium, Vancouver (Israel Fehr)
B.C. Place Stadium, Vancouver (Israel Fehr)

VANCOUVER – The new turf surface and the goal-line technology that will be used at the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup were showcased at Vancouver's B.C. Place Stadium on Wednesday with the tournament set to kick off Saturday.

It's been well documented that this will be the first World Cup to be played on artificial turf. It's been equally well documented that many players aren't thrilled about it, leading to over 60 of them to file a lawsuit against the CSA citing gender discrimination as the men's tournament is played on grass. The suit was ultimately dropped in January and every game at the six venues across Canada will be played on turf.

The turf at B.C. Place, which is hosting nine games including the final, was installed just last week. It was played on for the first time this past Saturday when the Vancouver Whitecaps hosted Real Salt Lake in Major League Soccer action and a few RSL players spoke out against the surface, complaining about the lack of stick.

The process for the pitch to be certified by FIFA is extensive. Comprehensive player and ball interactions tests are performed to ensure the pitch meets FIFA's player performance and safety criteria and that the surface is set up properly for long-term durability. Because of the recent installation, it has been a bit of a rush to get the field ready.

"It's been an aggressive schedule this week but we'e confident we'll be ready to go for the first match on Monday," said Don Hardman, the chief stadia officer of FIFA's National Organizing Committee. "Working on compacting the turf with some rolling machines, things like that really accelerate the break-in process."

(Israel Fehr)
(Israel Fehr)

It will also be the first time goal-line technology is used at the Women's World Cup. The provider is a company called Hawk-Eye and the system uses 14 high-speed camera, seven directed at each goal, to assess whether or not a goal has been scored. Match officials wear a special watch that vibrates and displays a visual "GOAL" message within one second of the ball crossing the goal line.

Goal-line technology was used successfully at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, has been used in the English Premier League for the past two seasons, and will be introduced for the 2015-16 seasons in Germany's Bundesliga and Italy's Serie A.

The games are about to begin and while the use of turf for the tournament is still highly contentious, the addition of goal-line technology is certainly a positive.

Canada, ranked No. 8 in the FIFA Women’s World Rankings, opens play on Saturday, June 6 in Edmonton against China.

More Soccer coverage from Yahoo Canada Sports:

- - - - - - -

Israel Fehr is a writer for Yahoo Canada Sports. Email him at israelfehr@yahoo.ca or follow him on Twitter. Follow @israelfehr