The road hasn’t exactly been smooth for Hope Solo in recent months.
First, she was arrested and charged in June. Then, in an August match, the goalkeeper for the U.S. women’s national team was poised to beat the record for career shutouts (currently 71) until Switzerland scored with a penalty kick—somewhat poetically—in the 71st minute. US Soccer doesn’t seem to care much about her criminal activities; it’s too bad about the record, though.
Missing that save might have been a blessing in disguise. US Soccer used Solo’s name to promote the match and made plans to celebrate Solo’s “hard work and dedication” should she break the record. But many thought the timing inappropriate considering she faces two charges of fourth degree domestic violence assault.
Soccer Central podcast: SPORTSNET.CA’s Soccer Central podcast, hosted by John Molinaro and James Sharman, takes an in-depth look at the beautiful game and offers timely and thoughtful analysis on the sport’s biggest issues. To listen and subscribe to the podcast, CLICK HERE.
It was a different story in 2007 when Solo ran her mouth to the media. After the U.S. lost 4-0 to Brazil in the World Cup semifinals, Solo was vocal about being benched by coach Greg Ryan. She told CBC Sports, “It was the wrong decision, and I think anybody that knows anything about the game knows that. There’s no doubt in my mind I would have made those saves.” She was subsequently suspended for the remainder of the Cup and wasn’t permitted to enter the stadium to watch U.S. defeat Norway for third place.
Apparently, challenging her coach’s authority is a crime more serious than allegedly assaulting her half-sister and under-aged nephew.
According to the 911 call, a woman inside of a suburban Seattle home was “going crazy and hitting people.” Police reports suggest that an intoxicated Solo berated her 17-year-old nephew for considering a career as an actor and suggesting that actors need to have an “athletic state of mind.” Allegedly, she proceeded to physically attack him and her half-sister at the family gathering until police arrived.
So far, US Soccer has failed to take any action against Solo. True, the offence occurred outside of the scope of her athletic responsibilities, but it seems odd that there would be no repercussions at all from the same organization that suspended her from an important game for insubordination.
Sports leagues are known for the inconsistency with which they discipline athletes despite having a long history of being allowed to do so. After the Chicago Black Sox scandal in 1919 (players were bribed to throw the World Series), MLB created the Commissioner role and offered it to Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis. The judge accepted the position on the condition that he would have unrestricted authority to strike down any action he deemed bad for baseball. Thus, the “best interest” clause was born.
Of course, “best interest” differs from league to league based on their collective bargaining agreements. In the NBA, players’ contracts include a clause about “good moral character.” In 2007, the NFL adopted the Personal Conduct Policy, granting the league the power to penalize an athlete even without a conviction. The NHL takes a four-stage approach–under the Behavioral Health Program, a first offence results in counselling, followed by a suspension without pay, then a mandatory six-month suspension, and finally a one-year suspension with the possibility of dismissal.
US Soccer prefers to stick with tradition: their bylaws state that any member may be fined, suspended, or terminated if “the conduct of the Member is adverse to the best interest of soccer.”
The power to penalise is multipurpose by design. Organizations want to avoid embarrassment and public backlash. Bad publicity can lead to decreased revenues—advertisers and sponsors don’t generally like to be associated with criminal behaviour, and some fans may stop buying tickets and merchandise if they think they are indirectly supporting malfeasance. Certainly the end goal of punishment is to dissuade athletes from reoffending and to deter other athletes from making the same mistakes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work.
For a limited time get Sportsnet Magazine’s digital edition free for 60 days. Visit Appstore/RogersMagazines to see what you’re missing out on.
For a while after her run-in with the U.S. team, it seemed that Solo had learned her lesson. She helped the side secure gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In 2010, she placed 7th on FIFA’s Women’s World Player of the Year ranking. At the 2011 World Cup, Solo played every minute leading up to the second-place finish and was awarded the Golden Glove as the tournament’s top goalkeeper. She managed all of these accolades without committing any major faux pas (if you don’t count a Twitter tirade against former player Brandi Chastain).
But just before the 2012 London Olympics, Solo tested positive for a banned substance. Despite grumbling from the World Anti-Doping Agency, she got off with a warning from the US Anti Doping Agency and was allowed to compete. She returned home with the second Olympic gold medal of her career.
Then, just months later, police were called to a Washington home to respond to a domestic disturbance. They ended up arresting former Seattle Seahawks tight end Jerramy Stevens, Solo’s then boyfriend. He was never formally charged and the two were married shortly after.
Now that Solo is the one in handcuffs, it’s clear that a few telling mishaps have become a pattern of misbehaviour. Regardless, US Soccer has chosen to do nothing about it.
The bodies that govern sports have the power to set and uphold moral standards, to punish those who fail to meet such standards, to promote athletes who behave accordingly and demote those who don’t. However, since most organizations are free to discipline as they see fit, and there are very few standards in place to ensure consistency, there is no accountability and they are not required to respond in a manner that actually makes sense.
(Case in point: Ray Rice gets a two-game suspension for domestic assault. Michael Vick gets 34 games for orchestrating dogfights. Josh Gordon gets a yearlong suspension for smoking pot.)
For Solo, the timing of her arrest couldn’t have been better. The U.S. is busy preparing for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada. The CONCACAF qualifiers are from Oct. 15-26 and the team needs Solo if they plan to contend in less than a year’s time. Sure, November’s trial might conclude that Solo is a criminal, but currently she is valuable to the organization and sanctioning her would hurt the team.
Meanwhile, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell recently announced that first-time domestic violence and sexual assault offences will now result in an automatic six-week suspension. Repeat offenders will be banished from the league indefinitely. In a memo to players, Goodell wrote, “Domestic violence and sexual assault are wrong. They are illegal. They are never acceptable and have no place in the NFL under any circumstances.”
It took the NFL a long time, but this is a step in the right direction. If leagues are going to dole out punishments for off-field offences, they need to do so consistently. Punitive measures need to be determined in a vacuum, without consideration for an athlete’s value to the team.
In Solo’s case, her actions warrant reprimand from US Soccer. But she’ll probably continue to sidestep punishment—she’s too darn good at stopping the ball.
