With the United States Soccer Federation debating whether to repeal its rule requiring players to stand for the nation anthem, Major League Soccer reconfirmed Tuesday that it does not prevent anyone from kneeling in protest.
The USSF's board of directors held a special meeting Tuesday to discuss its anthem policy but did not take immediate action, according to the New York Times. Per the report, no decision is likely to come before the board has a regularly scheduled meeting on Friday.
MLS reiterates a longstanding position supporting players’ right to peacefully protest during National Anthems. pic.twitter.com/lPFZhmLeAl
— Major League Soccer (@MLS) June 9, 2020
Meanwhile, MLS wrote in a statement, "While fostering an environment of diversity, equality and inclusion, Major League Soccer stands by the ideals of freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protest that are the hallmarks of the United States and Canada. If players or staff decide to stand, kneel or otherwise exercise their right to peaceful protest during the playing of the National Anthems before league games, we support them."
The statement is similar to one that MLS issued in 2017, in the wake of the controversy over U.S. women's national team star Megan Rapinoe kneeling in protest during the anthem. Rapinoe's protest against racism and police brutality followed the lead of former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who began kneeling during the anthem in 2016 but hasn't played in the NFL since that year.
In 2017, while MLS commissioner Don Garber backed the league's stance on kneeling, in his other role as a member of U.S. Soccer's board, he supported the USSF's policy requiring players to stand for the anthem.
"We felt very strongly that if you are given the honor of being called up to play for your country, and you're going to wear our flag on your chest, you should stand for the national anthem," Garber said at the time. "And if you don't want to do that, you don't have to accept the call up."
Both the U.S. women's national team players and the U.S. Soccer Athlete Council, made up of players who have a say in USSF matters, issued statements Tuesday, asking for the USSF to repeal the rule that prohibits kneeling during the anthem. Both statements also called on the USSF to apologize for instituting the regulation.
