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Gulati: U.S. Soccer to address Solo’s arrest for alleged assault soon

Hope Solo

By CAITLIN MURRAY

Hope Solo’s legal problems haven’t escaped the attention of the U.S. Soccer Federation.

Asked for his reaction to Solo’s arrest over the weekend for assault, U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati told reporters Wednesday that officials from the federation will be reaching out soon to Solo regarding the incident, the Associated Press reported.

”We’ll be talking with Hope in the next 24 hours and her representatives, and I think it would be inappropriate for me to say anything else until some of these processes play out,” Gulati said from Recife, Brazil, where the U.S. Men’s National Team is preparing for Thursday’s match against Germany.

Solo, starting goalkeeper for the U.S. Women’s National Team and Seattle Reign FC, had been arrested early Saturday for allegedly hitting her half-sister and 17-year-old nephew. She is charged with fourth-degree domestic violence assault.

Solo, 32, plead not guilty in Seattle-area court on Monday and was released without bail. A pretrial hearing was set for Aug. 11.

The judge ordered Solo to have no contact with the alleged victims and refrain from consuming alcohol.

“Hope is not guilty of any crime,” her attorney Todd Maybrown told the Associated Press in an email after her arrest. “In fact, our investigation reveals that Hope was assaulted and injured during this unfortunate incident. We look forward to the opportunity to present the true facts in court and to having this matter behind Hope very soon.”

Solo had been at a family gathering Friday night into Saturday morning when police were called and told an intoxicated Solo had allegedly been hitting people, according to reports.

Solo skipped a USWNT game last week three days before her arrest for a family commitment, U.S. Soccer said at the time. Shortly after her arrest, both U.S. Soccer and Reign FC had issued statements that they were aware of the situation but declined further comment.

The day after her arrest, she missed an away game for Reign FC in Rochester, N.Y. and the club has since closed their training sessions to media for the first time this season.

It’s unclear if Solo had been planning to attend Sunday’s away game, but the police report said Solo arrived to her half-sister’s house upset that her husband, former NFL tight end Jerramy Stevens, refused to drive her to the airport, according to police documents. It was at Solo’s half-sister’s house that the alleged assault took place.

Comments

  1. I say, time to for the number 2, to become the number 1. Ms. Ashlyn Harris, time to assume the role.

    backstop us to another world cup

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  2. I don’t see why the federation needs to get involved in this. So long as Solo does her job just let the justice system work. There will be plenty of time to make statements after she has had her day in court.

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  3. Solo has always been a bit of a loose cannon. I remember her father completely lost his mind (literally), was homeless and lived in the woods around town – she used to bring him macaroni and cheese so he’d have something to eat – and then he died. She was sprinkling his ashes around the goal the game before Greg Ryan (incomprehensibly) decided to bench her in 2007, and the USWNT got blasted 4-0 by the Brazilians, owing in no small part to a bunch of flubbed saves by Brianna Scurry, if memory serves. Solo ran her mouth – pointing out the obvious, that it was a dumb move – and duly got kicked off the team. That still always smacked of piss poor man-management (or woman-management, or whatever) on the coach’s part…and no minor amount of ass-covering and cowardice on Ryan’s part. To me: you messed up, coach, own it before the players call you out on it. But Solo was the one who took it in the teeth on that one. Obviously someone more circumspect would have not put their own foot in their mouth, but Solo’s life does not seem to have loaned itself to introspection.

    So what? To my mind, she’s got legal issues to deal with now, that’s for the legal system to sort out. If she’s legally clear to play – meaning, not in jail – and she’s still the best keeper for the USWNT, you stick with her, and let others worry about “image”. Crazy or not, the woman is an eraser in goal and still by a lot the best keeper in the world…the only thing that would mitigate that is if she’s gotten to be a cancer in the locker room too. (No idea on that.) But that’s a coach’s call, not the USSF’s.

    If she does some time in the pokey, well, obviously, you can’t play her while she’s a resident in the Cross-Bar Hilton. 😉

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    • She also loves to poke at the 99ers. She has no respect for the women who helped build up women’s soccer to give her a place to play. Everyone has personal issues, Solo just cannot seem to keep hers under control.

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    • I agree with you!… the girl is one of the Best USWNT Goalie.. and yes she is better that Scurry ever was…. I think they should keep her on the team.. us needs her for the world cup

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  4. So, someone snitched by calling the police to tell on Hope.

    911 Dispatch: “Hello, 911.”
    Snitch: “Hope hit me!”
    911 Dispatch: “Come again.”
    Snitch: “Hope hit me and she won’t give back my shoes.”

    Brianna Scurry never had this type of ish happen.

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    • Domestic violence does not respect your demographic prejudices. Rich people, Ivy League types, WASPS, etc are all potential abusers and victims. Also, remember that there’s 2 (in this case 3) sides to a case, so unless you were there, best to withhold judgment. This is (barely) still America.

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  5. What makes a club “D1” in this country, other than the fact that they are willing to pay MLS a “franchise fee”?

    I wish Gulati would address that.

    Reply

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