The United States women's national soccer team issued a statement Monday asking the United States Soccer Federation to repeal its national anthem policy, which requires players to stand during the playing of the anthem before games.
The statement also asked the federation to publicly apologize for the policy and acknowledge it was wrong.
USWNT Players @USWNTPlayersUSWNT Player's statment re: @ussoccer's "Anthem Policy" https://t.co/Jd4OtRDhRJ
"Further, we believe the Federation should lay out its plans on how it will now support the message and movement that it tried to silence four years ago," the statement said. "Until USSF does so, the mere existence of the Policy will continue to perpetuate the misconceptions and fear that clouded the true meaning and significance of Colin Kaepernick, Megan Rapinoe and other athletes taking a knee—that Black people in America have not been and continue to not be afforded the same liberties and freedoms as white people and that police brutality and systemic racism exist in this country."
What's more, the U.S. Soccer Athlete Council, featuring current and former players from the women's, men's, beach and para 7-a-side national teams, issued a statement that "strongly encourages" the federation to repeal the policy.
As Molly Hensley-Clancy of BuzzFeed News reported, the men's team also condemned the policy:
Molly Hensley-Clancy @mollyhcAnd here’s the statement from a lawyer for the men’s national team union, which also condemned the policy and demanded an apology from US Soccer: https://t.co/YimuzOACWR
Hensley-Clancy reported U.S. Soccer will discuss the policy during a special board meeting Tuesday as concerns about police brutality and racism in the country have dominated headlines following the killing of George Floyd on May 25 and the protests it sparked across the nation.
The report noted Rapinoe was the first major white athlete to follow Kaepernick's example and kneel during the national anthem as a means of protest in 2016. While she was not officially punished, she did not appear on the team's roster for more than six months and was not included again until the federation passed the policy.
The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup Golden Boot and Golden Ball winner, who is gay, said at the time she knew "what it means to look at the flag and not have it protect all of your liberties."
She further explained her decision to kneel in an article for the Players' Tribune:
"I have chosen to kneel because in the time it has taken me to write this article, many more Americans have been lost to senseless violence. I have chosen to kneel because not two miles from my hotel in Columbus, Ohio, on the night before our USWNT match against Thailand, a 13-year-old boy named Tyre King was fatally shot by a police officer. I have chosen to kneel because I simply cannot stand for the kind of oppression this country is allowing against its own people. I have chosen to kneel because, in the words of Emma Lazarus, 'Until we are all free, we are none of us free.'"
Hensley-Clancy reported a U.S. Soccer representative emailed the men's national team players' union in 2017 to threaten a three-game suspension for anyone who knelt during the national anthem and a year's suspension for a second offense.
That U.S. Soccer will discuss the policy could signal a change in attitudes from another governing body after NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league was "wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest" in a video released Friday.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMicmh0dHBzOi8vYmxlYWNoZXJyZXBvcnQuY29tL2FydGljbGVzLzI4OTUzMzAtdXNhLXdvbWVucy1zb2NjZXItdGVhbS1kZW1hbmRzLXJlcGVhbC1vZi1iYW4tb24ta25lZWxpbmctZHVyaW5nLWFudGhlbdIBggFodHRwczovL3N5bmRpY2F0aW9uLmJsZWFjaGVycmVwb3J0LmNvbS9hbXAvMjg5NTMzMC11c2Etd29tZW5zLXNvY2Nlci10ZWFtLWRlbWFuZHMtcmVwZWFsLW9mLWJhbi1vbi1rbmVlbGluZy1kdXJpbmctYW50aGVtLmFtcC5odG1s?oc=5
2020-06-09 03:55:28Z
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