U.S. Soccer suspends Solo 6 months, terminates contract for 'cowards' comment

The United States women's national team will be without Hope Solo for the next six months, as U.S. Soccer announced Wednesday that the polarizing goalkeeper has been suspended for her comments following the shootout loss to Sweden at the Olympics.

As reported by Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated, U.S. Soccer has also terminated her contract with the national team. The USWNT Players Association will be launching an appeal, executive director Rich Nichols told Wahl.

Solo lashed out at the Swedes in the aftermath of the Americans' quarter-final upset at Rio 2016, calling Pia Sundhage's side "cowards" for adopting a defensive approach en route to the stunning victory on penalties.

Related: Hope Solo calls Sweden 'cowards' after shocking upset

She was widely criticized for her remarks, both from outside circles and within her own dressing room; teammate Megan Rapinoe said she was "really disappointed" in the aftermath.

U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati outlined the decision to levy the heavy suspension on Solo with the following statement:

"The comments by Hope Solo after the match against Sweden during the 2016 Olympics were unacceptable and do not meet the standard of conduct we require from our National Team players," Gulati said. "Beyond the athletic arena, and beyond the results, the Olympics celebrate and represent the ideals of fair play and respect. We expect all of our representatives to honor those principles, with no exceptions.

"Taking into consideration the past incidents involving Hope, as well as the private conversations we’ve had requiring her to conduct herself in a manner befitting a U.S. National Team member, U.S. Soccer determined this is the appropriate disciplinary action."

Solo, 35, will not be eligible to play for the USWNT until February 2017. While the six-month punishment seems harsh on the surface, the women are only scheduled to play two matches - both friendlies - between now and February.

She is still eligible to play for her club team, the Seattle Reign, during her international ban.

In a statement given to Wahl, Solo said she was "saddened" by the action taken against her.

While Gulati's statement highlights Solo's outburst towards Sweden as the justification for the ban, he does note the embattled goalkeeper's "past incidents" were taken into account.

Solo was suspended for 30 days in January of 2015 after her husband, former NFL tight end Jerramy Stevens, was arrested and charged with DUI while driving a U.S. Soccer van. Solo was a passenger at the time, but she was not arrested or detained in relation to the incident.

Solo has also been at the forefront of a wage discrimination complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, in which Solo and four other prominent members of the USWNT allege that U.S. Soccer has unfairly underpaid female players less than their male counterparts, despite the former being more profitable.

That filing, using figures from U.S. Soccer's 2015 financial report, claimed the women generated almost $20 million more in revenue than the men's team, but were paid far less than their male peers.