Players from the Portland Thorns and North Carolina Courage collectively took a knee during the national anthem and wore Black Lives Matter T-shirts in pre-game warmups to protest racial inequity when the National Women’s Soccer League opened the Challenge Cup tournament in Utah on Saturday.
“We took a knee today to protest racial injustice, police brutality and systemic racism against black people and people of color in America. We love our country and we have taken this opportunity to hold it to a higher standard. It is our duty to demand that the liberties and freedoms this nation was founded upon are extended to everyone,” the Thorns and Courage said in a joint statement released before the game.
Prior to the @NWSL Challenge Cup opener, members of the North Carolina Courage and Portland Thorns kneeled during the national anthem and wore Black Lives Matter t-shirts. pic.twitter.com/7FoagQYX6F
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 27, 2020
Lynn Williams scored in stoppage time and the Courage defeated the Portland Thorns 2-1.
The NWSL is the first professional team sport in the United States to return amid the coronavirus outbreak. The monthlong Challenge Cup opened Saturday with a pair of games at Zions Bank Stadium in Herriman, Utah.
The eight teams taking part in the Challenge Cup are sequestered in Utah for the duration of the monthlong tournament and must follow a strict protocol that includes frequent testing.
But the tournament was rocked earlier this week when the Orlando Pride was forced to withdraw because of multiple positive COVID-19 tests among players and staff.
The Courage are the NWSL’s two-time defending champions and considered the favorites at the Challenge Cup. Last season they scored a league-record 54 goals.
There was also a moment of silence before the game as the league recognized the national outcry following the death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police.
Megan Rapinoe, who plays for OL Reign but opted out of the Challenge Cup, was criticized when she knelt at a NWSL game and a pair of national team games in 2016. She said she wanted to express solidarity with former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, who took a knee during the anthem to bring attention to racial inequality.
In response, U.S. Soccer adopted a rule that required players to stand. But that rule was repealed earlier this month amid nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd and racial inequity.
Rapinoe voiced her support for the NWSL players Saturday on social media: “You love to see these women using their voice, demanding better for America, and for black people and people of color.
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