U.S. Soccer has since called Solo’s comments “highly inappropriate” and made the decision to suspend her from the team for six months and terminate her contract, effective immediately.
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The goalkeeper served a 30-day suspension in early 2015 after an incident that saw her husband, former National Football League tight end Jerramy Stevens, charged with driving under the influence while at the wheel of a U.S. Soccer van during a training camp in Carson, California.
United States goalkeeper Hope Solo has been handed a six-month ban by her national federation after labelling Sweden “a bunch of cowards” following her side’s Olympic quarter-final defeat.
Solo, who is one of the most decorated players in U.S. soccer history, has represented the U.S.at three Olympic Games, winning two gold medals, and three straight World Cups, but she will not be eligible to play for the U.S. Women’s National Team until February 2017. “We expect all of our representatives to honor those principles, with no exceptions”, U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said in a press release.
There is no mention of Solo stepping away from her worldwide commitments.
Many people in U.S Soccer and around the world said that Hope Solo’s comments constituted unsportsmanlike conduct.
It’s okay to be a coward if you win.
On August 12, Solo, 35, was carried against the Swedes after their victory in the quarterfinals of the Olympics-2016 goals on penalties (1-1 ap, 4-3 on penalties).
“She was sacked for making comments that a man never would have been fired for”, he added.
It’s not the first time Solo, who has made more than 200 appearances for her nation, has been suspended from global duty.
That wasn’t sufficient to avoid a suspension, but at least it was honest; Hope does not mince words, or hold back her actions.
She is also a World Cup victor, keeping goal for the USNWT during its successful 2015 campaign in Canada, and holds the USWNT record for most shutouts.
The suspension could bring an end to the 35-year-old’s worldwide career, which has included one World Cup success and two Olympic gold medals.
“They dropped into a 50”, she said. “The better team did not win today”. “I strongly and firmly believe that”. “Solo’s First Amendment rights”, and it plans to file an appeal.
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As for Sundhage, we’re guessing her response to the ban would sound something like what she originally said right after Solo’s insults at the Olympics.
