U.S. Soccer has suspended G Hope Solo for six months after her "controversial comments at the Olympics and terminated her national team contract," according to Grant Wahl of SI.com. The move comes after Solo called the Swedish players "'cowards' for their defensive style in eliminating the U.S. in the quarterfinals." Solo "received public criticism" from teammate Megan Rapinoe and U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati for the comments, but she "did not apologize for them" (SI.com, 8/24). In N.Y., Andrew Das reports by ending her contract, the USSF "sent a strong signal that Solo ... might have played her last game" for the USWNT. Solo "has balanced on-field excellence with off-field controversy for more than a decade." The Olympic comments were her "latest embarrassing episode," as she was arrested in '14 on "charges of assaulting two family members and served a 30-day ban last year after her husband was arrested on drunken-driving charges while he and Solo were in a borrowed team van." While Solo's play on the field "has been exceptional at times ... she has caused public relations problems for herself and for U.S. Soccer away from the field." She was "ostracized by the national team for several months after ripping its coach ... for starting her backup in a World Cup semifinal" in '07, and she took to Twitter during the '12 London games "to publicly criticize" former USWNT F Brandi Chastain, who was calling matches for NBC. With no one "playing well enough to supplant Solo as the starter over the past decade, her coaches and U.S. Soccer have weathered each storm and continued to send Solo back into the net" (N.Y. TIMES, 8/25). In DC, Des Bieler noted "given the severity" of yesterday's actions, there "appears to be a good chance that Solo never plays for the team again" (WASHINGTONPOST.com, 8/24).
QUIET INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT? USWNT Players Association Exec Dir & General Counsel Rich Nichols said that the union would appeal Solo's suspension and termination, and he called the discipline "excessive, unprecedented, disproportionate, and a violation of Ms. Solo's First Amendment Rights." Nichols also questioned if a male player or coach "would receive this level of discipline." Nichols: "Hope Solo got fired for making comments that a man would never get fired for making." She will receive three months of severance pay from the USSF (Liz Mullen, Staff Writer). USA TODAY's A.J. Perez notes Solo was among five members of the USWNT who "filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in April, a bid that sought wage equality with their male colleagues." The EEOC "has yet to announce a decision in the case" (USA TODAY, 8/25).
LACKING ANY REAL BITE: In St. Louis, Jose de Jesus Ortiz writes the six-month suspension "is rather meaningless considering the U.S. women’s national team has no meaningful game during the suspension." However, a message "had to be sent to a player with a history of ridiculous antics." Ortiz: "If U.S. Soccer really wants to make a statement, they’ll find another goalkeeper for the women's national team and move on from what has been a controversial Solo era" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 8/25). ESPN's Jeremy Schaap called the suspension "largely symbolic" since there is "no World Cup coming up, there’s no Olympics coming up." The length of the ban is due to Solo's "history of transgressions, misdeeds, run-ins with the law." Schaap: "If this suspension were just for the things that Hope Solo said about Sweden, it wouldn’t be fair at all. ... She's been giving U.S. Soccer headaches for 15-plus years, so you have to look at the whole track record" ("GMA," ABC, 8/25). ESPN's Mike Golic said the suspension "means nothing," as she can "still go play in the professional women's soccer league." He added this is a "lifetime achievement award" for Solo. Golic: "Saying what she said, no way would you ever think you're going to get suspended six months for this." ESPN's Mike Greenberg said, "This is a way of saying, ‘Hey, shut up. We're done with this. You can play, you're a great player, we want you to keep playing, but we are tired of constantly having to talk around you. We are tired of constantly having you creating one embarrassing situation after another.’” Greenberg: “It's a symbolic punishment. It’s like suspending a starting pitcher for four games" ("Mike & Mike," ESPN Radio, 8/25).
THIS IS THE END: YAHOO SPORTS' Leander Schaerlaeckens noted U.S. Soccer "put up with Solo’s antics for the better part of a decade," and "no matter what she did, no matter how much negative publicity she cast on her team and employers, Solo remained firmly ensconced between the USA’s sticks." So long as she remained a "difference-maker in goal, and a draw at the box office, U.S. Soccer was ready to forgive Solo for far more serious incidents than insulting opponents." It "shouldn’t be lost on anyone that for a lot of that time, the gap in skill between Solo and any would-be replacement was vast." Now that her best games "might be in her wake, she’s been dumped" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 8/24). In Seattle, Matt Calkins writes under the header, "With Hope Solo, U.S. Soccer Again Takes The Easy Way Out." Solo's ban "had everything to do with convenience," as "disciplining her has generally conflicted with U.S. Soccer’s objective of winning titles and cashing checks." But "now that it doesn’t, the brass is dropping the hammer like it’s 200 degrees" (SEATTLE TIMES, 8/25). CSNBAYAREA.com's Ray Ratto wrote, "We tolerate the behavior of the talent until we can find better talent to tolerate. US Soccer just put out a call to arms to find a more socially pliable goalkeeper/spokesman than Hope Solo, so she can be someone else’s problem from now on" (CSNBAYAREA.com, 8/24).
