CHICAGO - Insider sources with the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) indicate that the federation is hoping that this whole, "anthem thing," will go away as they stick their heads in the sand in an effort to ignore everything going on in the world and the country.
An inside look at US Soccer
"We stopped Megan Rapinoe from kneeling and put a measure in place that forces our players to stand so we are hoping that everyone forgets we are mandating forced participation in patriotic ceremonies," stated one source with U.S. Soccer.
The Nutmeg News was able to confirm that, in fact, U.S. Soccer was outright hostile to the idea of any messaging beyond "One Nation - One Team" as they banned any kind of expression to the media from their employees or spokespeople.
"They don't like protests and they don't like protesters," stated another previously employed U.S. Soccer worker. "They don't want anything to damage the U.S. Soccer brand because they don't want to be perceived as anti-American. With the whole commie-ball thing that seems to persist in some areas of the country, the federation is restrained from doing anything by their leaders that could taint their brand negatively. A memo was circulated to employees to state that no one should make any comment on the current events in the United States as it will just eventually go away, just like racism."
The Nutmeg News will have more on this as U.S. Soccer desperately hopes they can make it through any upcoming friendlies or World Cup Qualifiers without players protesting.