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.