An ESPN Outside the Lines investigation, led by reporter Mark Fainaru-Wada, delved deeply into Hope Solo’s domestic violence case from last June. There is a lot to unpack, and it is advisable to watch and/or read the whole thing for full context. Though the case was dropped when Solo’s half-sister Teresa Obert and her son declined to appear for a second deposition, prosecutors have appealed.
Obert, who had not previously spoken extensively about the incident, talked with Outside the Lines because she was incensed that Solo painted herself as a victim in recent interviews with Good Morning America and ESPNW.
Meanwhile, OTL also looked at U.S. Soccer’s response to the incident. They issued a perfunctory statement back in September that they were taking a “thoughtful and deliberate” approach with Solo and that they wouldn’t punish her during the legal process, but would “carefully consider” new evidence. However, it doesn’t appear as though they went looking for any:
It’s unclear what, if anything, U.S. Soccer did to look into the case. Obert says neither she nor her son was contacted. “I was surprised they didn’t investigate,” she says.
Outside the Lines found no evidence that anyone with U.S. Soccer contacted prosecutors or police involved with the case, either. Public records requests made to the Kirkland Police Department do not appear to reflect any attempt by officials with U.S. Soccer to obtain the police reports from the case. Murray told Outside the Lines he was not aware of anyone from U.S. Soccer contacting the Kirkland police for information about the case.
Gulati declined repeated requests to be interviewed. Asked what the federation did to look into the case, spokesman Neil Buethe said: “Well, we’re not going to get into all the details of what those specifics were, but obviously we had conversations with Hope and conversations with others.” Asked who those others were, he said, “I don’t think we’re going to talk in detail on who was part of those conversations.”
The U.S. Women’s National Team begins their quest for a World Cup on Monday night against Australia.
Related: Hope Solo Since The 2011 World Cup: A Timeline
from The Big Lead http://ift.tt/1KNWajo
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