USWNT cancels game in Hawaii due to dangerous, appalling turf

The U.S. women’s national team was scheduled to take on Trinidad & Tobago Sunday in Hawaii, but that won’t be happening.

An injury to Megan Rapinoe in training on Friday sparked debate over the turf the team was being asked to play on, the same debate that had raged last summer before the World Cup. The modifications made to the field in order to turn it into a full-sized soccer field looked hastily put together at best, as can be seen above and below.

Alex Morgan, one of the most popular soccer players in the world, had this to say:

“The training grounds that we were given and the playing surface of the stadium were horrible. I think it’s hard because no one’s really going to protect us but ourselves. So we’re put in a very hard position because obviously we want to play in front of these fans and we want to train before the game but injuries happen when you don’t protect yourself and when you’re not protected from those higher up from you.”

Can’t blame the players for not being willing to risk their careers for a friendly, and hopefully this results in the U.S. soccer federation being a bit smarter about player safety going forward.