Solo

There were smiles all around Thursday night when Hope Solo extended her shutout record to 73 in the United States national women’s soccer team’s 4-0 victory over Mexico in Rochester, New York.

Fans cheered and the players, as they often do, posed for photos and signed autographs with the young girls who revere them. Ah, to be a strong and successful role model, especially for the next generation, and to have the honor to represent your country.

But look past the patina of glee and here is what you will see: a team and a league — not named the NFL this time — that are tone-deaf when it comes to domestic violence and how they handle players who have been accused of it.

It takes a lot to match the NFL these days when it comes to missteps in the handling of players charged with assaulting family members and loved ones. But Thursday, at a time when domestic violence in sports is dominating the national conversation, U.S. Soccer did just that — again — by keeping Solo in goal when she should have been nowhere near it.

Solo, one of the biggest and most marketable stars in women’s sports, is facing domestic violence charges from an incident last summer in which she is accused of punching her sister and her 17-year-old nephew at a late-night party.

According to a police account of the incident, Solo was the primary aggressor and instigator of an assault at a family party that left her sister and nephew with noticeable injuries to their head and face. She has pleaded not guilty; her trial is set for November.

One can argue the differences between an NFL player punching his soon-to-be wife and a soccer star brawling with her family, but it is indisputable that both qualify as domestic violence.

The glaring contrast in Solo’s case is that while several football players recently accused of assaults have been removed from the field, she has been held up for praise by the national team. On Thursday she was even given the honor of wearing the captain’s armband in celebration of her setting the team’s career record for shutouts in its previous game.

The question is: Why? Celebrating Solo’s achievement right now is like allowing running back Adrian Peterson, who has been accused of child abuse, to continue to play for the Minnesota Vikings — and then awarding him the game ball for his next 100-yard game.

If that would not happen in the NFL, it should not happen in women’s sports, either.

Yet U.S. Soccer, showing that it has no sense regarding this issue, went ahead and gave Solo a quite public pat on the back.

Every suspected case of domestic violence has its own circumstances, including the one in 2012 in which Solo’s boyfriend at the time was accused of assaulting her. (Those charges were later dropped.) When NFL stars Peterson, Ray Rice and Greg Hardy were arrested, there were loud calls for those players to be suspended.

The response to Solo’s case? The sound of crickets — except on game days, when it changes to applause. And that is inexcusable.

Maybe everyone is just too busy calling out the NFL for its ineptitude, but a light needs to shine on Solo’s legal problems as well. It shows that domestic violence is not committed only by men, even if Solo is one day cleared of the charges against her.

The court has ordered Solo to stay away from her sister and nephew, and to refrain from drinking alcohol. At the same time, U.S. Soccer and the Seattle Reign, her team in the National Women’s Soccer League, have put on blinders. Solo played on as Seattle advanced to the NWSL championship game last month, and she played on this week as the national team continued its preparations for next month’s qualifiers for the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

The Reign rationalized their decision to keep her on the field by saying they were gathering evidence on the case. U.S. Soccer is apparently following suit.

How convenient for Solo, and for them, that her trial will not start until after the U.S. has claimed its place in the World Cup. If she were a marginal player, though, I bet both organizations would have kicked her to the curb without a second thought.

It is possible to understand the team’s cowardice: A league trying to sustain itself has an incentive to protect its stars.

But how does U.S. Soccer rationalize giving Solo the honor of playing for the national team, or of then making her its captain?

Before Solo set the shutout record, Neil Buethe, a spokesman for U.S. Soccer, told USA Today that the organization knew Solo was dealing with “a personal situation,” which played down the gravity of the accusations against her.

“At the same time,” he said, justifying the celebration of Solo’s impending record, “she has an opportunity to set a significant record that speaks to her hard work and dedication over the years with the national team. While considering all factors involved, we believe that we should recognize that in the proper way.”

Buethe did not immediately respond to an email and voice message Friday. Solo has apologized on Facebook for what she characterized as “a highly unfortunate incident.” She said she looked forward to getting back on the field, “where I belong.”

But actually, she doesn’t. Not in a world in which female and male athletes are ever to be treated equally.