Hope Solo suspended six months by U.S. Soccer

Hope Solo has been a fixture on the United States women’s soccer team for well over a decade. That, however, will not be the case for the immediate future.

U.S. soccer announced on Wednesday Solo has been suspended six months for “conduct that is counter to the organization’s principles.”

“The comments by Hope Solo after the match against Sweden during the 2016 Olympics were unacceptable and do not meet the standard of conduct we require from our National Team players,” U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati said in a press release. “Beyond the athletic arena, and beyond the results, the Olympics celebrate and represent the ideals of fair play and respect. We expect all of our representatives to honor those principles, with no exceptions.”

“Taking into consideration the past incidents involving Hope, as well as the private conversations we’ve had requiring her to conduct herself in a manner befitting a U.S. National Team member, U.S. Soccer determined this is the appropriate disciplinary action,” he continued.

The comments Gulati is referring to that were made by Solo during this year’s Olympics can be found here. In the following days, one prominent member of team distanced herself from the remarks. Another followed suit.

In addition to what she said during the Olympics, Solo received backlash for posts she made on Twitter prior to heading to Brazil. The result was the 35-year-old hearing boos and Zika chants while in Rio.

Solo was also suspended by U.S. soccer for 30 days last year. She issued a response to this most recent one to Sports Illustrated.

Since becoming a member of the senior team, Solo has won a World Cup and has two gold medals to her credit. Unfortunately, along with the success have been moments that did not sit well with America’s soccer federation, which has chosen to hand down a stiffer punishment this time around.