Hope Solo’s story remains unchanged a decade later, and her stance is as firm as ever. In the upcoming Netflix sports documentary “Untold: Hope Solo vs. U.S. Soccer,” premiering on September 3, the former U.S. women’s national team goalkeeper reiterates her belief that the U.S. Soccer Federation had ulterior motives when they terminated her contract in 2016, effectively exiling her from the team.
The controversy surrounding Solo’s departure from the national team stems from an incident during the 2016 Olympics, where U.S. Soccer disciplined her for what they described as “conduct that is counter to the organization’s principles.” This came after Solo infamously called the Swedish players “a bunch of cowards” following a loss in the quarterfinals. However, in the documentary, Solo and her legal counsel from that time, Rich Nichols, suggest that the real reason for her punishment was her outspoken fight for equal pay.
In March 2016, Solo, alongside teammates Megan Rapinoe, Alex Morgan, Carli Lloyd, and Rebecca Sauerbrunn, filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against U.S. Soccer, citing sex-based wage discrimination. This complaint marked the beginning of Solo’s battle with the federation, a battle that she believes ultimately led to her dismissal.
“In 2015, I discovered something that I wasn’t supposed to find out,” Solo reveals in the documentary. “At that moment, I had no idea that perhaps I had made an enemy. A year later, I was fired. They said ‘she was a poor sport,’ but I think it was because I was getting into the money of U.S. Soccer.”
Solo’s discovery came while she was trying to secure a home loan and realized that she had no valid working contract with U.S. Soccer. When she attempted to address this issue through the players’ association, she was met with silence. “I was told, ‘You’re asking questions beyond your pay grade. Just shut up and play,’” she recalls.
According to Solo, the federation’s actions went beyond just terminating her contract—they also isolated her from her teammates. She claims that the U.S. women’s soccer team was instructed not to communicate with her, and that most of them complied. “It was a way for the federation to make me feel completely removed,” she says in the documentary. “So I think these women are cowardly and controlled by the federation.”
The isolation and perceived betrayal took a toll on Solo, who admits that this period was one of the darkest times in her life. “I was hurt, I felt betrayed by a lot of people. I don’t think people knew how dark of a time it was for me,” she shares. Unlike many of her peers, Solo never received a farewell game, a tradition in U.S. soccer.
In 2018, Solo filed a separate lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation, alleging violations of the Equal Pay Act and sex discrimination. That case has yet to proceed to trial. Despite these setbacks, Solo’s legacy on the field remains unparalleled. She played for the U.S. team from 2000 to 2016, winning a World Cup and two Olympic gold medals, and was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2023.
“Sitting here today, I refuse to bow down to the federation and these players. I am ready to tell the truth about what it was really like throughout my time on the U.S. team,” Solo declares in the documentary.
To this day, Solo remains critical of the $24 million pay discrimination settlement reached by the U.S. women’s soccer team, feeling that it fell short of true justice. Her relationship with many of her former teammates appears strained, if not entirely severed. The documentary’s director, Nina Meredith, notes the difficulty in getting people to participate in the project. “It’s been very difficult getting people to interview for this project,” Meredith said.
In the documentary, Solo also reflects on her personal struggles, including her 2022 arrest, which she describes as a “bad decision” and “a mistake” that she knows she will have to answer for to her children later in life. “It’s something I will never live down,” she admits.
Hope Solo’s story, as told in “Untold: Hope Solo vs. U.S. Soccer,” is one of defiance, resilience, and a refusal to be silenced, even in the face of overwhelming adversity.
