NO SITTING FOR SOLO
U.S. Soccer waits on legal process
The unseemly silence that has enveloped the U.S. Olympic and soccer communities since the June arrest of U.S. soccer goalkeeper Hope Solo on domestic violence charges has finally been broken.
“Abuse in all forms is unacceptable,” U.S. Olympic Committee chief executive officer Scott Blackmun told USA TODAY Sports in an e-mail Monday. “The allegations involving Ms. Solo are disturbing and are inconsistent with our expectations of Olympians. We have had discussions with U.S. Soccer and fully expect them to take action if it is determined that the allegations are true.”
Blackmun is not calling on U.S. Soccer to remove Solo from the women’s national team roster now. While Blackmun did not say why, it’s believed that the USOC is concerned about Solo’s right to a hearing and due process under the U.S. Amateur Sports Act while she awaits a November trial.
That said, it would have been entirely possible — and absolutely preferable, considering the nation’s domestic violence climate — for U.S. Soccer and Solo to enter into some kind of an agreement in which she would have taken time away from the sport to deal with her personal and legal issues far from the soccer field.
As the NFL has found a way to remove alleged abusers from its active rosters, so too should have U.S. Soccer.
According to documents obtained by The Seattle Times, Solo charged her 17-year-old nephew, punched him in the face and tackled him during an argument at Solo’s sister’s Kirkland, Wash., home. When the teen’s mother tried to intervene, Solo allegedly attacked her as well.
Police wrote in an affidavit that when they arrived on the scene, the nephew’s T-shirt was torn and he had scratch marks on his arms and a bleeding cut on his ear.
Solo has pleaded not guilty to two counts of misdemeanor domestic violence.
Instead of leaving the national team after her arrest, Solo played in a few meaningless “friendly” matches this summer — including one last week in which she stunningly was given the captain’s armband — as concern about the decision to allow her to play grew in the wake of the NFL’s massive domestic violence controversy.
When criticism mounted over the NFL’s handling of the issue, several sponsors, including Anheuser-Busch, McDonald’s and Nike, were notable in expressing their very public and increasingly negative opinions to the league. Anheuser-Busch used the toughest language, saying it was “disappointed and increasingly concerned.” McDonald’s said it had “questions” and was “closely monitoring ” the situation. Nike and the NFL pulled Adrian Peterson apparel from their websites after he was indicted on child abuse charges.
All three of these sponsors also support U.S. Soccer, so I e-mailed each of them twice Monday to find out what, if anything, they planned to do or say about Solo and U.S. Soccer.
Anheuser-Busch and McDonald’s never responded. Nike replied Monday evening with this statement:
“We are aware of the allegations and that Hope Solo has pled ‘not guilty’ to the charges. Hope remains a Nike athlete and we will continue to monitor the situation.”
Meanwhile, Solo plays on. She will not be banned when the U.S. national team begins qualifying matches next month for the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada.
“U.S. Soccer takes the issue of domestic violence very seriously,” U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said in an e-mailed statement Monday. “From the beginning, we considered the information avail- able and have taken a deliberate and thoughtful approach regarding Hope Solo’s status with the National Team. Based on that information, U.S. Soccer stands by our decision to allow her to participate with the team as the legal process unfolds. If new information becomes available we will carefully consider it.”
The cases involving NFL players and Solo are not entirely parallel, but the common thread of allegations of violence runs among them all. Let’s hope that U.S. Soccer and its corporate sponsors are not treating the situations differently because the alleged domestic abuser is a woman, not a man.
The renowned U.S. women’s national soccer team historically has stood for the principle of treating women athletes equally. That should be the case at all times, both good and bad.