Hope Solo, star goalie of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, notched her 73rd career shutout for Team USA in a game against Mexico last week. That’s a record. She’s a celebrity, with the endorsement deals and an appearance on
Hope Solo, star goalie of the U.S. women’s national soccer team, notched her 73rd career shutout for Team USA in a game against Mexico last week. That’s a record. She’s a celebrity, with the endorsement deals and an appearance on “Dancing With the Stars” to prove it.
Solo also has an arrest record. She was charged in June with domestic violence after an altercation with family members in which she allegedly attacked her sister and 17-year-old nephew. Yet Solo continues to play. She wore the captain’s armband — a team honor — in the game against Mexico.
Should Solo represent her country while she faces a November trial date on misdemeanor domestic violence assault charges?
That question might not have prompted much discussion before the controversy over the NFL’s handling of assault allegations against players Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson. The entire sports establishment, not just the NFL, has been put on notice.
Athletes accused of serious offenses can’t get kid-glove treatment because they’re athletes. They should not be on the playing field before they’re punished or cleared. That requires some swift decision-making by teams and leagues. They don’t have the luxury of waiting for a court resolution.
This started with the National Football League, which took a cavalier approach to punishing Rice for the vicious act of punching his fiancee, who collapsed, unconscious, in an Atlantic City, N.J., casino elevator in February. Rice got a two-game suspension from the league and entry to an intervention program from the courts. Then a video of the incident was leaked and Rice’s brutality couldn’t be excused. Under pressure from the public and sponsors, he was suspended indefinitely by the NFL and dropped by his team, the Baltimore Ravens.
The NFL has haphazardly handled this case and the cases of several other players facing allegations of domestic violence. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was widely panned for being evasive at a press conference last week, his first extensive comments on the controversy.
It was a poor performance, but Goodell did at least acknowledge that domestic violence is a serious problem in sports — in life — and can’t be treated like just another roster complication. He also gave the rough outline of an approach that could work for all professional sports, depending on how it is fleshed out. It would involve setting a new personal conduct code, education for young athletes and, most important, clear, consistent punishment for violating the rules. “We are going to clean up our house,” Goodell said.
The NFL and other high-profile sports leagues have to figure out how to deal with alleged wrongdoing on a separate path from the court system, and before the courts reach a resolution, which often takes months or years. That was painfully evident in the Ray Rice case. There has to be an expectation of a code of conduct for athletes, as for others in the public eye.
U.S. Soccer officials are sticking with their decision to keep Hope Solo on the team as her criminal case proceeds. According to press accounts citing police reports, Solo appeared to be intoxicated when police responded to a call about an altercation at a family gathering in Kirkland, Wash. She allegedly punched her sister in the face several times and attacked her nephew. “There were visible injuries on them,” a police official said.
Solo has pleaded not guilty. “I take seriously my responsibilities as a role model and sincerely apologize to everyone I have disappointed,” she wrote on Facebook after the incident.
She will have her day in court. But she should not be on a playing field before then, representing the U.S. national team.
