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KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The Kansas City Current are seeking almost $2 million in damages in a lawsuit over a turf installation at their Riverside practice facility.

The lawsuit -- filed in the circuit court of Platte County -- alleges that New Jersey-based Elite Turf pulled a “bait and switch” on the NWSL organization in the process of installing four of the club’s seven practice facility fields.

According to the lawsuit, the Current retained Monarch Build to construct its training complex in Riverside, including seven practice pitches. Two of the seven practice fields were to be natural grass fields and pitches 3-7 were set to have artificial turf.

The Current claim in the lawsuit the club bought turf for Pitch 3 directly from Elite Turf in March of 2022. At that time, the Current agreed on a more than $500,000 contract that would have Elite distribute a turf system manufactured by Act Global. The Act Global turf system was also FIFA-certified.

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Shortly after the contract for pitches 4-7 was executed, the lawsuit claims Monarch “finally noticed that Elite had changed the description of the turf system in its updated bid materials and in the Original Pitches 4-7 Contract without disclosing the change to KC WFC Training or Monarch.” Immediately, Monarch told the KC Current about what the lawsuit calls a bait and switch.

After the Current and Monarch demanded answers, the lawsuit said Elite admitted it no longer had a distribution relationship with Act Global and no longer sold Act Global product. Elite also admitted it switched the turf system in its updated bid without telling the club and told the Current the Elite turf system is not FIFA-certified.

Tests done in April 2024 following installation of the turf for pitches 4-7 “have evidenced that the integrity of the fiber... is weak. This weakness has and will continue to result in fiber shedding, reduced face weight, poor footing, balding, and loss of overall system integrity on Pitches 4-7,” the lawsuit alleges.

As a result of the lack of tuft bind strength in the four pitches, the Current said the product Elite provided fails to meet FIFA standards and will not be eligible for certification, something an undersection of the contract required. The Current also claim the turf on pitches 4-7 were poorly installed and have seam failures, wrinkling and trapping of fibers, all things the club said will impact the durability, safety, playability and overall appearance of the turf.

The Current’s lawsuit says Elite acknowledged both verbally and in writing that defects existed with the turf. In a Jan. 5, 2024, email, Elite said it would have “no issue fixing any an all issues with field manufacture or installation.” Those fixes never happened according to the Current, breaking several warranty claims in the contract’s agreed to by the organization, Monarch and Elite Turf.

According to the lawsuit, the KC Current are asking for $1,924,954.20 in a jury trial for post and future damages.

“Elite Turf USA made many misrepresentations and engaged in a deceitful sales campaign. We won’t stand for such business practice hence the litigation. Despite our significant investment and focus on the best playing fields designed to last for a significant period of time, our newest artificial fields provided by Elite Turf USA are not at the level promised to us,” a spokesperson for the KC Current said. “Elite’s misrepresentations result in four of our fields not having the longevity promised. We will now face long-term problems of the sort that are neither in line with our agreement with Elite nor with our world-class public facilities.”