The USWNT stars’ fight for Equal Pay was a seismic shift in the sports world. When the team became successful after winning multiple Olympic medals and World Cups, the remuneration they received was still lesser than the men’s team. In fact, the USMNT did not win any tournaments for a long time and received better pay and facilities from the U.S. Soccer Federation. And the female players commenced the battle against that system, and one of the major contributors to the movement was Hope Solo.

In a recently released Netflix Special, ‘Untold: Hope Solo vs US Soccer’, the legendary goalkeeper opened up on various issues she felt with her teammates. In addition, she has played a prominent role in advocating for equal pay from the very beginning. But somehow, she got sidetracked. She was sidetracked in a way that none of her teammates didn’t answer her calls or supported her. Thus, she revealed it all in the documentary.

At one time, Hope Solo filed a suit against the federation concerning the equal pay movement. She cited, “The time had come. I reached out to my teammates and said, ‘I’m finally going to file in federal court against U.S. Soccer for violation of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII. And…no response.” For years, the USWNT stayed together in terms of their equal pay movement protesting multiple times.

In the documentary, we see a clip where Solo said in a meeting with the U.S. Soccer Federation, “I believe the Federation has lost its way. The establishment represents disunity, discord, and more, failure.” Hence, she wanted to make a dent and get what she deserved. But no one came in support of her.

No one followed her and her legal counsel detailed in the docuseries that not even the media stepped forward in her time of need.

Hope Solo dispirited with her former teammates

“We were making headway. And then, guess what? The other players filed their own class-action lawsuit,” said Solo in the docuseries. Surely, it turned shocking when the players must stay united with the issue. But pretty evidently, Solo got sidetracked. Meanwhile, the other players went ahead and filed their lawsuits.

In the end, the USWNT received a settlement of $24 million for their litigation, which angered Solo. The lawsuits were great according to her, but the bigger purpose was completed – getting equal pay. Hence, she detailed her thoughts in the documentary and the other players received the settlement, but not Solo.

It became a shocking revelation for everyone involved in U.S. Soccer. Throughout the documentary, we see her facing multiple issues, but none of her colleagues or soccer teammates come forward in support of her. She kept saying how the 99 World Cup-winning soccer team became toxic and took some credit for the equal pay issue when they did nothing to create the movement.

Hence, we guess everyone should watch the documentary to understand the perspective of the USWNT team and women’s soccer federation. It opens everyone’s eyes to the equal pay movement and how Hope Solo became one of the leading torchbearers in the historic movement.