A rule created after Megan Rapinoe took a knee may be rescinded as the federation, like the N.F.L. and FIFA, reconsiders its views on athletes who choose to peacefully protest.
U. S. Soccer’s board of directors met Tuesday to discuss rescinding a policy that requires players and staff members to “stand respectfully” for the national anthem, joining FIFA, the N. F. L. and other sports organizations that are reconsidering their stance on the right of athletes to peacefully protest, even when they are on the field.
The board’s discussion took place on a conference call arranged by U. S. Soccer’s new president, Cindy Parlow Cone, who called it after several federation staff members raised the anthem policy in a federation-wide all-hands meeting last week. The prospect of repealing the rule has since gained the backing of the players associations representing the men’s and women’s national teams.
It was not clear if U. S. Soccer’s board would reach of a decision on Tuesday, or delay any vote, or announcement, until its regularly scheduled board meeting on Friday.
Objections to the anthem policy are not new. Since its inception in March 2017 after a series of kneeling protests by the star midfielder Megan Rapinoe, the rule had long been derided as unclear in its requirements, divisive among fans and unpopular with the players that were its target. But after protests about police violence in more than 600 American cities in recent weeks raised questions about representation, unequal treatment and limits on expression in workplaces across the country — including inside a U. S. Soccer federation still recovering from its own culture crisis — overturning it took on a renewed urgency.
On Monday night, the players associations representing the men’s and women’s national teams, as well as the influential U. S. Soccer Athlete Council, joined the campaign. The lawyer for the men’s team called the policy “an ill-advised and insensitive political statement,” and said the players he represents never had any intention of honoring it.
A statement from the women’s team went further, demanding that U. S. Soccer not only repeal the policy and acknowledge it was wrong when it was adopted, but also issue “an apology to our black players and supporters.”
U. S. Soccer’s conversations about abandoning the policy, which was most likely unenforceable against the senior national teams, were taking place amid similar backtracking by other leagues.
