All players representing the US national team must “stand respectfully” for the national anthem before matches, US Soccer has ruled.
The change comes in the wake of the controversy kicked off by NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who chose not to stand for the anthem last season. Many other athletes followed suit, and US women’s team star Megan Rapinoe took a knee before a game against Thailand in September.
The new policy was revealed by the US federation during their AGM in Hawaii this weekend. It was passed by the board of directors in February.
New Policy added to @ussoccer bylaws: Players "shall stand respectfully during playing of national anthem @ which federation is represented" pic.twitter.com/fkVtCI1iHC
— Stuart Holden (@stuholden) March 4, 2017
The bylaw states: “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.”
Rapinoe chose to kneel to protest against social inequality. She had also chosen to kneel for her NWSL club, Seattle Reign. “It was very intentional,” Rapinoe said afterwards. “It was a little nod to Kaepernick and everything that he’s standing for right now.”
US Soccer said at the time that it did not agree with Rapinoe’s decision. “As part of the privilege to represent your country, we have an expectation that our players and coaches will stand and honor our flag while the national anthem is played,” it said in a statement.
Fox’s Stuart Holden, a former national team player, reported that there were no “preset consequences” for players failing to adopt the new requirement, and that players who chose not to stand would be judged on a case-by-case basis.
