U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Announced For World Cup Qualifiers. Is Controversy Brewing Over Decision To Play Solo?
Yesterday, the coach of the United States Women’s soccer team, Jan Ellis, officially released the players’ roster for the upcoming Women’s World Cup qualifying games. The U.S. Women’s team is scheduled to start their march toward the World Cup when they open camp in Kansas City on Monday.
According to the Washington Post, the roster for the U.S. Women’s team had been accidentally released on the U.S. Soccer Federation’s site last Thursday and Ellis confirmed the listed 20 players were her selections for the U.S. Women’s National Team. The roster of players includes several members of the U.S. Woman’s team that have played in other World Cups including Abby Wambach, Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd, Alex Morgan and Sydney LeRoux.
One of the women named on the U.S. Women’s team roster is a controversial decision on Ellis’ part due to off-field allegations of domestic violence. U.S. Women’s soccer goalie Hope Solo, who was arrested for a domestic violence incident in June, was picked as one of the two goalkeepers playing for the U.S. Women’s team.
The Inquisitr reported that Solo, 32, had been arrested for allegedly assaulting her sister and 17-year-old nephew during a party at a home in Kirkland, Washington, on June 21. The decision to put Solo on the U.S. Women’s roster despite the allegations has been criticized by many in the media as a double standard. When football player Ray Rice was arrested for assaulting his wife, which was backed up by a videotape, he was fired by the Baltimore Ravens and suspended by the National Football League.
In an interview published on ESPNW, former U.S. Women’s soccer goalkeeper Jill Loyden says she feels Solo should have been benched instead of given a place on the U.S. Women’s team roster. Loyden, who calls Solo a mentor and a friend, lost her sister, Britton, in a domestic violence crime in 2012. Despite the controversy, many of Solo’s U.S. Women’s soccer teammates have supported the decision to let her play.
The CONCACAF Women’s soccer qualification tournament begins on October 15 and runs through October 26. The U.S. Women’s team will begin play in Kansas City against Trinidad and Tobago. The games will be played in three more U.S. cities to determine which three teams in the division will make it to the FIFA World Cup in 2015.
FIFA is also facing controversy as several international women’s soccer players are suing the soccer federation for having to play on artificial turf. The women’s suit, which includes U.S. Women’s soccer player Wambach, alleges that by having to play on the fake turf, the women face more potential injuries and are being discriminated against, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The lawsuit cites that male soccer players have always played on real grass in World Cup matches and will continue to do so in the future.
Tell us what you think about Solo being on the U.S. Women’s soccer team?
[Photo Courtesy of AP]
