Women's Soccer

The United States Soccer Federation (USSF) has begun to consider repealing its ban on players kneeling during the national anthem. The board of directors plans to meet on Tuesday, June 9 to discuss the policy.

This comes in the wake of outrage and resulting protests over the murder of George Floyd while in police custody. Protests in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and against police brutality have sprung up across the nation and are now drawing global attention.

Ada Hegerberg's season had been cut short by the time the new coronavirus wiped out the football calendar, but the break has given her time to rehabilitate her injured knee and the Ballon d'Or-winning striker is relishing her return to training.

Lyon’s Hegerberg ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament in training in January, a cruel blow that immediately ended the prolific forward's campaign.

Sam Kerr can claim a league title in her first season in England, even if her side wasn’t atop the Women's Super League table when the last match was played before the novel coronavirus pandemic shut down league play.

The English FA announced Friday that Chelsea would be awarded the Women’s Super League crown based on a points-per-match basis. Manchester City was atop the table with 40 points from 16 matches, but Chelsea’s 39 points from 15 matches were rewarded with the trophy.

Professional team sports return to America beginning Saturday, June 27 with the start of the NWSL’s Challenge Cup in Herriman, Utah. The NWSL Challenge Cup schedule was unveiled Monday, and the tournament will feature 25 extremely meaningful matches over the course of a month.

Things begin with an 18-game preliminary round that takes place between June 27 and July 13. Each of the league’s nine teams will play four games and those results will be used to determine the seedings in the quarterfinal knockout round with the last-place squad being eliminated.

Veró Boquete is one of the most accomplished footballers in the world. A short list of her achievements includes being Spain’s all-time top scorer, having a stadium named after her and fighting for women to be included in the FIFA video game.

The 33-year-old has been all over the world playing for clubs in the United States, Spain, Russia, Sweden, Germany, France and China. She recently returned to the NWSL last year after a five-year hiatus from the U.S.

On May 22, 2020, NWSL side OL Reign announced the signing of Japanese standout Yuka Momiki. The 24-year-old was born in New York City but grew up playing in Japan with Nippon TV Beleza’s youth side before reaching the senior team.

 “Yuka is a young, dynamic player with tremendous potential that we believe will play an important role in our club this season and far into the future,” said OL Reign CEO Bill Predmore in a team press release. 

The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) will return to action in late June with a 25-game tournament in Utah that will be played in empty stadiums due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

The NWSL, which delayed the start of its season because of the coronavirus, said it has worked with team doctors and public health officials to develop testing protocols to ensure a safe environment for its nine teams during the month-long tournament.