Just when Hope Solo thought she couldn’t be more of an outcast, her former teammates kicked her hand-picked equal-pay advocate to the curb.
US women’s national soccer team players said Wednesday that attorney Rich Nichols, whom the combustible goalkeeper reportedly “convinced” the team to hire two years ago, will no longer serve as the union’s counsel in contentious contract negotiations with the US Soccer Federation.
Before Solo was issued a six-month suspension by US Soccer in August in the wake of her “unacceptable” comments toward the Swedish women’s national team at the Rio Olympics, the 17-year veteran had been a leader in the team’s fight for equal pay. In late 2014, feeling unsatisfied with their lack of progress, Solo pushed for Nichols to take the reins of the US Women’s National Soccer Team Players Association’s contract negotiations and give them a better chance of earning salaries equal to those of the men.
“We want the same money that the men are making, exactly,” Nichols said on CBS’ “60 Minutes,” where he joined Solo and four of her USWNT teammates to discuss their position against US Soccer. “That’s $5,000 minimum, that’s that $8,000 bonus if you tie a game and the $17,625 if you win. We want equal money.”
Hours before the team announced Nichols’ exit Wednesday, Solo voiced her unwavering commitment to the fight on Twitter.
Former USWNT standout and current ESPN soccer commentator Julie Foudy was apparently happy to see Nichols go.
“The right move,” she tweeted, as a response to the players’ announcement, which comes across as a repudiation of Solo and her interests.
After US Soccer president Sunil Gulati handed down Solo’s six-month suspension, even as teammates past and present piled on, Nichols came to her defense, calling the punishment “disproportionate” and a “violation of Ms. Solo’s First Amendment Rights.” Nichols questioned whether this “action would have ever been taken against a male player” in a statement released Aug. 24.
The players’ current collective bargaining agreement runs through Saturday. Neither the USWNTPA nor US Soccer has filed a 60-day notice of termination that is necessary for a work stoppage, meaning talks will continue into the new year. “We remain committed to working together with the players to continue negotiating a new CBA,” US Soccer Director of Communications Neil Buethe said late Wednesday.
Solo and other USWNT representatives likely aren’t as convinced a compromise can be reached in the near future after three years of stalled negotiations.
Star forward Alex Morgan recently announced she was leaving the National Women’s Soccer League for “first-class facilities and an unparalleled training environment on par with the men’s team” at the elite French club team Lyon. With apparent pessimism surrounding a new CBA and complaints over inadequate conditions in the NWSL — an issue Solo has expressed vehemently, as well — Morgan’s decision could be the start of a trend that bodes poorly for pro women’s soccer in America.
Solo has vowed to continue the fight off the field, even if she never plays for the national team again.
“Let’s be honest, it’s not my decision if I return to the national team,” she told the Associated Press last week. “I find it an honor and a privilege to represent our country at the highest level in a sport that I love, in a position that I love. And I would do almost anything to play at that level once again. I say almost, because at this point in time I believe our fight for equality is much bigger than being on the national team again.”
With AP
