Story at a glance
- U.S. Soccer officials may repeal the rule requiring players to stand for the national anthem.
- This follows weeks of protests against systemic racism in the U.S. following George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis.
The U.S. professional soccer league is considering repealing its current policy requiring the league’s athletes to stand during the national anthem, according to ESPN.
The outlet reports that the U.S. Soccer Federation’s board of directors is pondering the move at the urging of U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone. The board will reportedly meet on Tuesday to discuss the policy, sources told reporters at ESPN. It will likely go to a formal vote Friday.
Under U.S. Soccer policy, “All persons representing a Federation national team shall stand respectfully during the playing of national anthems at any event in which the Federation is represented.”
That rule was passed in 2017 following U.S. women’s team midfielder and activist Megan Rapinoe kneeling during the national anthem in solidarity with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, protesting the systemic racism embedded in U.S. institutions.
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Rapinoe also refused to sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” at the same opening ceremony in Thailand in 2016.
In interviews, the athlete described herself as “a walking protest” to President Trump’s policies.
“So it’s kind of a good ‘F you’ to any sort of inequality or bad sentiments that the [Trump] administration might have towards people who don’t look exactly like him,” she said at the time.
Trump said that he did not think it was appropriate for Rapinoe to kneel during the national anthem while on the pitch.
When that policy was adopted by U.S. Soccer, Rapinoe agreed to honor it. ESPN notes that if the U.S. Soccer board repeals the regulation, it would take effect immediately, but will still have to be voted on at the next annual general meeting, which is scheduled for February or March.
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Protests over systemic racism and structural inequality have re-emerged in the national conversation following the deaths of George Floyd, 46, and Breonna Taylor, 26, at the hands of police officers in recent months. Notably, the Minneapolis officer at the center of Floyd’s case knelt on his neck during the arrest for more than eight minutes, despite Floyd being nonviolent and pleading for air.
That officer, Derek Chauvin, was terminated from the police force and later arrested on murder and manslaughter charges. Three other officers involved with Floyd’s detainment and arrest were fired and subsequently charged as well.
Kaepernick was the first professional athlete to peacefully protest America’s treatment of people of color in 2016, a move that caused a heated national debate. Now, in 2020, the gesture itself has renewed significance, both in regards to Floyd’s death and how the NFL treated Kaepernick following the uproar.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell released a statement on Friday acknowledging the league was wrong for “not listening” to players earlier regarding demonstrations against police brutality.
“We, the National Football League, admit we were wrong for not listening to NFL players earlier and encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest,” he said in a video posted to Twitter.
“Without black players there would be no National Football League and the protests across the country are emblematic of the centuries of silence, inequality and oppression of black players, coaches, fans and staff,” Goodell concluded.
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