The US Olympic Committee and US Soccer have said very little about Hope Solo since she was arrested and charged with domestic assault back in June. The US women’s goalie has been accused of punching her nephew in the face and attacking the 17-year-old’s mother when she tried to intervene. On Monday, the USOC broke its silence.
In an email to Christine Brennan of USA Today Sports, USOC chief executive officer Scott Blackmun called the allegations against Solo “disturbing.”
“Abuse in all forms is unacceptable,” Blackmun said. “The allegations involving Ms. Solo are disturbing and are inconsistent with our expectations of Olympians. We have had discussions with U.S. Soccer and fully expect them to take action if it is determined that the allegations are true.”
Solo issued an apology shortly after her arrest and said she is confident her name will be cleared once the legal process plays out.
[Related: Hope Solo’s nephew said she was ‘going psychotic’ in 911 call]
As we have learned with some of the NFL’s recent off-field issues, it is not always necessary for a team to wait for “due process” before deactivating a player. US Soccer could have entered into some sort of agreement with Solo where she stays away from the team until the case is resolved, but the team has instead allowed her to play in several meaningless friendlies this summer. Despite that, US Soccer president Sunil Gulati insists the team is taking the allegations very seriously.
“U.S. Soccer takes the issue of domestic violence very seriously,” Gulati said. “From the beginning, we considered the information available and have taken a deliberate and thoughtful approach regarding Hope Solo’s status with the National Team. Based on that information, U.S. Soccer stands by our decision to allow her to participate with the team as the legal process unfolds. If new information becomes available we will carefully consider it.”
As Brennan noted, three major corporations — Anheuser-Busch, McDonald’s and Nike — that expressed concern over the NFL’s recent issues with domestic violence have had no comment on Solo’s situation. All three sponsor US Soccer in addition to the NFL.
