Attorney Hampton Dellinger, who is representing the players, stepped up the pressure on Wednesday by distributing a copy of a letter sent to Valcke demanding to know if he will meet with players and their representatives in Ottawa.
Dellinger even pointed to a story in a FIFA publication in which Valcke was quoted as saying dialogue with participating teams and players is very important and that he would "welcome open dialogue at the official draw on 6 December in Ottawa."
Valcke, however, sent a letter to Dellinger dated Dec. 1 saying he was unavailable to meet with players this week.
"Soccer is a sport but it has no place for the games you and FIFA are playing with the world's best female footballers," Dellinger wrote in a letter to Valcke on Wednesday.
A group of top international women players filed a lawsuit against FIFA and the Canadian Soccer Association in October alleging gender discrimination over plans to play the World Cup on artificial turf. [ID:L3N0RW53J]
The lawsuit claims the sport's governing body and CSA are discriminating against women by staging the June 6-July 5 event in Canada on artificial grass that they feel poses safety risks and alters how the game is played.
A record 24 teams, eight more than the 2011 World Cup in Germany, advanced to the finals and will be drawn into six groups on Saturday.
After an opening leg 0-0 draw, Ecuador won the away leg 1-0 over Trinidad and Tobago on Tuesday in front of raucous crowd of close to 27,000 in Port of Spain to clinch their first ever trip to the finals.
Many of the familiar soccer nations will feature in the tournament with Germany, champions in 2003 and 2007, looking to complete the double after the men's World Cup victory in Brazil earlier this year.
The United States, four-time Olympic champions, will also be among the favourites along with defending champions Japan.
The other qualifiers are Canada, Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ivory Coast, Ecuador, England, France, South Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and Thailand.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Frank Pingue)
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