Dissatisfied with the response of soccer's governing body, American soccer star Abby Wambach and a group of elite national players made good on their promise to bring legal action over plans to play the 2015 Women's World Cup on artificial turf.

The players filed a lawsuit at the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal in Toronto on Wednesday, claiming that playing the sport's premier tournament on fake grass amounts to gender discrimination under Canadian law. The suit names FIFA as well as the Canadian Soccer Association.

The athletes say it's discrimination because their male counterparts have always played the World Cup on natural grass and will for the foreseeable future. They maintain there is a greater risk of injury on artificial turf, and the surface impacts both how the game is played and how the ball moves.

Among the athletes joining Wambach are U.S. teammate Alex Morgan, Germany's Nadine Angerer, Brazil's Fabiana Da Silva Simoes and Spain's Veronica Boquete.

In an interview last month with The Associated Press, Wambach said she considered it a personal responsibility to take a leadership role in the issue.

"We have to stand up and put our foot down and say, 'You know what? This isn't good enough. This isn't right and we deserve to be treated equally as the men,'" she said.

On Tuesday, a FIFA official visiting Canada ahead of the tournament next year said there were no plans to reconsider using artificial turf.

"We play on artificial turf and there's no Plan B," said Tatjana Haenni, FIFA's head of women's competitions.

FIFA has appointed an independent examiner to make sure the turf at the six venues meets its strict guidelines for top-tier tournaments. The consultant is traveling with a FIFA delegation currently inspecting the sites.

FIFA rules stipulate that matches can be played on artificial turf if special dispensation is granted, as it was in Canada's case. The regulations also state that all matches in a tournament must be played on the same type of surface, and that it must meet FIFA standards.

Canada's bid for the event specified that the final match be played at Vancouver's BC Place, which seats 55,000 and has an artificial turf.

But many players, including Wambach, have been voicing their objections since the bid was accepted. They sent a letter to FIFA and the CSA in July, saying they were prepared to take the legal action.

Since then, there has been growing support for the women on social media, with celebrities including actor Tom Hanks and NBA star Kobe Bryant joining the cause. Tim Howard, the goalkeeper for the U.S. men's team, also voiced his support on Twitter.

The players have said they will not boycott the World Cup matches, which will be played in six Canadian cities.

Many players believe that FIFA and the Canadian federation could cover the six fields with sod. The real stuff was rolled onto the artificial surface at Michigan's Big House this summer for a match between Manchester United and Real Madrid.

It's not ideal, they say, but better than the alternative.

"Is it going to cost them a little bit of money? Yeah. Maybe a drop in the bucket for FIFA for the amount of money that they have," U.S. player Megan Rapinoe said last month. "It just seems like they're kind of like, 'Oh, yeah, whatever, this is just what you're going to have.' When there's an alternative option, that's frustrating."

The legal action on Wednesday details the facts and law in support of the discrimination claim and also filed a motion to expedite the proceedings.

"Getting an equal playing field at the World Cup is a fight female players should not have to wage but one from which they do not shrink," said attorney Hampton Dellinger, who is representing the athletes. "In the end, we trust that fairness and equality will prevail over sexism and stubbornness."

The U.S. team will play this month in the championships for soccer's North and Central American and Caribbean region, which serves as qualifying for the World Cup next year. The eight-team, round robin tournament opens for the Americans Oct. 15 in Kansas City, Kansas. The U.S. team also plays Oct. 17 in Bridgeview, Illinois, and Oct. 20 in Washington, D.C.

The final will be held Oct. 26 at PPL Park in Chester, Pennsylvania.