Hope Solo can be seen tearfully reacting to a six-month suspension from U.S. Soccer in a video release on Tuesday, Mediate is reporting. The disciplinary move would likely spell the end of her career on the United States Women’s National Team and in professional soccer, as well.
The video, which you can see below, was released as the trailer for the six-part soccer documentary series, Keeping Score. The cameras were there last week when Hope got the news that she was being suspended for six months from her job as the goalie for the United States Women’s National Team.
As Hope tearfully reacts to the news, her husband, former NFL Jerramy Stevens, attempts to console her.
Solo was suspended from U.S. Soccer on August 25, following remarks she’d made during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. Following a quarterfinal loss to Sweden on penalty kicks, according to The L.A. Times , Solo called her opponents “ a bunch of cowards .”
“We played a creative game. We had many opportunities on goal. We showed a lot of heart. We came back from a goal down. I’m very proud of this team. We played a bunch of cowards. The best team did not win today. I strongly, firmly believe that.”
Hope Solo’s suspension after “cowards” remark probably means her USWNT career is over: https://t.co/ZzEhnh2HlK pic.twitter.com/gELTWlO6Ar
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) August 25, 2016
Her remarks did not sit well with her bosses at U.S. Soccer , who announced Solo’s suspension on their website a few days later.
“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. 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.”
Solo has also been suspended indefinitely from her day job as a goalkeeper for the Seattle Reign, according to ESPN. Her suspension from Seattle came a week after her suspension from U.S. Soccer.
At 35, her best years are likely behind her, and the likelihood of her getting either of her old jobs back seems slim. Effectively, Hope Solo’s career as a professional soccer player appears, for all intents and purposes, to be over.
See the devastating moment Hope Solo learned she’d been suspended https://t.co/y7mOM3NLXn pic.twitter.com/Cb82vzKJyI
— USA TODAY (@USATODAY) August 30, 2016
While the official reason for her suspension from U.S. Soccer is her remarks about Sweden, according to Slate soccer writer Laura Wagner, U.S. Soccer has been looking for a reason to be rid of her for some time.
Throughout her career, Hope has been dogged by incidents of impolitic remarks made on the field and legal problems off the field. In 2007, following a loss in the Women’s World Cup semifinals, she made disparaging remarks about her teammate Briana Scurry, then she repeated the same mistake in 2012 with former teammate Brandi Chastain. Off the field, she was a passenger in an official U.S. Soccer van when her husband was pulled over for DUI. Most damning of all, in 2014, she was arrested for allegedly assaulting her nephew and half-sister.
As Wagner sees it, U.S. Soccer has conveniently looked the other way at Hope Solo’s shortcomings because she had been a good player. But now that she’s older, and the team is moving toward younger players, they had an excuse to let her go.
“U.S. Soccer has always taken a pragmatic approach to the Solo problem: She helped the team win, so they kept her around. Now, those benefits and costs appear to have changed.”
Do you believe U.S. Soccer was right to suspend Hope Solo for her remarks about Sweden?
[Photo by Pedro Vilela/Getty Images]