Over the weekend, recently retired women’s soccer star Abby Wambach was arrested for driving drunk after running a red light in downtown Portland. Wambach was booked and released on her own recognizance, and apologized to her fans for exercising poor judgement.
For some people, including members of the men’s national team, an apology only goes so far. On Sunday, several players responded to the news of Wambach’s arrest by making fun of her and fellow USWNT star Hope Solo, who has also had some unfortunate run-ins with the law.
Midfielder Alejandro Bedoya and forward Jozy Altidore launched pointed jabs at Wambach via Twitter on Sunday, focusing less on the DUI and more on troubling comments Wambach made last year about foreign-born players who play for the men’s national team. The remarks, which came during an interview with Bill Simmons, were bordering on xenophobic, and several of the players in question were highly critical of Wambach at the time. But fans didn’t take kindly to Bedoya’s reaction, either. In truth, there are no good guys in this particular saga.
The whole episode comes less than a week after the USWNT filed suit against the U.S. Soccer Federation claiming they are vastly underpaid compared to the men’s team, a suit that also succeeded in alienating male stars like Landon Donovan.