U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Thursday sent a letter to U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati to "criticize the federation's 'failure to take adequate action to investigate' allegations" of a June '14 domestic-violence incident involving women's national team G Hope Solo, according to Joe Lago of YAHOO SPORTS. Blumenthal "called for Gulati to conduct an immediate 'fair and thorough investigation' and to 'reconsider Solo’s role as an active member of Team USA.'" Blumenthal referred to a recent ESPN investigation in the letter, writing, "If the Outside the Lines reports are correct, U.S. Soccer’s approach to domestic violence and family violence in this instance is at best superficial and at worst dangerously neglectful and self-serving. ... U.S. Soccer should at least articulate an explanation for Hope Solo’s position as an active member of Team USA" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/11). ESPN's Mike Golic said U.S. Soccer's initial investigation into the incident was "completely one-sided." He said, "You know the outcome you want, so you’ll do just enough investigating to make sure you come to that conclusion.” ESPN's Mike Greenberg: “You could certainly come away from this with the opinion that they didn’t want to go after this. They made a conscious decision not to go after this as hard as they could, and the only logical reason for that is that they did not want to find more than they found" (“Mike & Mike,” ESPN Radio, 6/12).
TIME TO RIGHT A WRONG: USA TODAY's Christine Brennan writes Solo, charged nearly a year ago, "should have been suspended by U.S. Soccer right then." Because USSF execs "did nothing at the time, they should do it now." They "won't, of course, because Solo is just too valuable to the team when it matters most," which is the ongoing FIFA Women's World Cup. Brennan: "What a statement that is: The renowned U.S. women's national soccer team, which has historically stood for what is best in sports, and the best of us, is now protecting -- even promoting -- an alleged domestic abuser." The USWNT "and its supporters will no doubt blame Blumenthal and the news media for creating this controversy at the worst possible time, but 100% of the blame for this debacle should fall at the feet of Gulati, who has never taken the Solo news seriously enough" (USA TODAY, 6/12). Meanwhile, SPORTSNET.ca's Donnovan Bennett wrote suspending Solo now "would not just hurt the USA, it would hurt the tournament." Bennett: "Stardom and sex sells and she has both in spades; she is one of the few crossover stars in women's soccer" (SPORTSNET.ca, 6/11).
