The photo dates back to February
An image shared on Facebook allegedly shows members of the U.S. women’s national soccer team kneeling during the national anthem at the Tokyo Olympics. Verdict: Misleading While the U.S. women’s national soccer team did kneel before its match against Sweden, the action did not occur during the national anthem. The photo included in the Facebook post was taken in February at the SheBelieves Cup. Ahead of the Tokyo Olympics, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) updated its rules to allow athletes to make gestures of protest in limited circumstances, including “on the field of play prior to the start of the competition (i.e. after leaving the ‘call room’ (or similar area) or during the introduction of the individual athlete or team),” according to an IOC press release. Such gestures, the IOC said, must not be “disruptive” or “targeted, directly or indirectly, against people, countries, organizations and/or their dignity.
