Players kneel during national anthem at Challenge Cup
Players for the Portland Thorns and the North Carolina Courage knelt during the U.S. national anthem Saturday when the National Women’s Soccer League opened the Challenge Cup tournament in Utah.
The players and coaches wore Black Lives Matter T-shirts in warm-ups before the game, which was nationally televised on CBS. The players also knelt during a moment of silence before kickoff. Canadian star Christine Sinclair is a member of the Thorns.
“We took a knee today to protest racial injustice, police brutality and systemic racism against Black people and people of colour in America. We love our country and we have taken this opportunity to hold it to a higher standard. It is our duty to demand that the liberties and freedoms this nation was founded upon are extended to everyone,” the Thorns and
Courage said in a joint statement released before the game.
The league said Friday that it would play the national anthem before the Challenge Cup games and that it would support the players in whatever they chose to do.
The NWSL is the first professional team sport in the United States to return amid the coronavirus outbreak. The monthlong Challenge Cup opened Saturday, with the Courage defeating the Thorns 2-1 in the opening match.
“Today, hopefully, it was a powerful statement,” Courage midfielder Sam Mewis said.
Megan Rapinoe, who plays for OL Reign, but opted out of the Challenge Cup, was criticized when she knelt at a NWSL game and a pair of national team games in 2016.
She said she wanted to express solidarity with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who took a knee during the anthem to bring attention to racial inequality.
In response, U.S. Soccer adopted a rule that required players to stand. But that rule was repealed earlier this month amid countrywide protests over the death of George Floyd and racial inequity.