Hope Solo has ridiculous theory about cause of her suspension

Hope Solo’s thinks she was suspended for six months because of her fight for equal pay in women’s soccer.

Buffoonery from male athletes generates a storm of negative media coverage. Last February after the Carolina Panther’s Super Bowl loss to the Denver Broncos, quarterback Cam Newton was harshly criticized for his sulky demeanor and poor sportsmanship. Earlier in the season, he was criticized for his upbeat celebrations. The man just couldn’t win.

Hope Solo was recently suspended from USA Soccer for an embarrassing display of poor sportsmanship at the recent Rio Olympic games. After her team’s loss, she said about her Swedish opponents, “We lost to a bunch of cowards.”

She is now claiming that the suspension had nothing to do with her behavior. Instead, she is convinced it is retaliation for her longstanding fight for equal pay among female soccer players. She Hope Solo-splained her perspective via Sports Illustrated.

"Literally 17 years on this team and then to be treated this way in the end is, (pause), not surprising from U.S. Soccer to be honest…. I feel like I’m being pushed out ’cause it can’t be based off performance, my health. It can’t be based off anything but they don’t like me … because they know I’ve been fighting so hard for equal pay."

While Solo positions herself as an equal-pay martyr, she has completely glossed over her long history of inexcusable behavior. And, she has failed to recognize that she has benefited from a double standard in sports. What black, male NFL athlete would receive a free pass for repeated incidents of domestic violence?

In fact, Solo not only refused to take responsibility for her actions– which included drunken tirades and physical violence towards family members and aggression towards police officers— she, framed herself as the true victim, saying during a Good Morning America Interview, “I was a victim of domestic violence at the hands of my 17-year-old nephew, who is 6-foot-9, 280 pounds. I was struck over the head, and concussed pretty severely. It was a very scary night.”

Hope Solo faced no result from U.S. Soccer for this incident. Other sports organizations, like the NFL, can dole out consequences to their athletes for such incidents even without a conviction. Instead, U.S. Soccer allowed her to continue to participate.

"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."

It turns out, according to ESPN, that U.S. Soccer did not even request police reports on the case.

That is not the only time Solo has avoided consequences for her questionable behavior. In 2012, she faced only a warning for violating anti-doping laws after she claimed she unknowingly took a banned substance.

In 2015, she received a 30-day suspension after her husband’s DUI arrest for acting “belligerently” towards a police officer. This incident, coupled with a previous incident of aggression towards a police officer, should have resulted in a harsher consequence. If Greg Hardy, Aldon Smith, or any other NFL player had acted belligerently towards a cop on two separate occasions, they would face more than a slap on the wrist.

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So, while Solo claims she was banned because of her fight for equal pay, it is fair for her to face consequences for her caustic statements, and subsequent defense of them. Hope Solo’s support of equal pay in soccer is admirable, but her history of embarrassing behavior and failure to take responsibility for her actions is not.