The captain of the United States women’s national soccer team and one of its most decorated senior players have publicly expressed their disappointment on behalf of the team following Korbin Albert’s anti-LGBTQ activity on social media.
Lindsey Horan and Alex Morgan made an unexpected appearance Wednesday during the USWNT media call to deliver a prepared statement on the issue, which they said had been discussed internally within the camp.
Last week it was discovered that midfielder Albert had shared anti-gay and anti-trans posts on TikTok.
It was also revealed that his activity on Instagram included liking a post that made fun of Megan Rapinoe’s misfortune due to Achilles tendon injury in November, which proved to be a career-ending moment for the former FIFA World Player of the Year in the NWSL Championship match.
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Rapinoe made her disappointment public a week ago via an Instagram post, choosing not to name Albert – although she later confirmed her message was aimed at the 20-year-old PSG player.
Albert quickly issued an apology, again via an Instagram Story, although in it she made no mention of Rapinoe or the LGBTQ community more broadly. She has not commented since.
Appearing on the team’s Zoom media call ahead of Saturday’s SheBelieves Cup opener against Japan in Atlanta, Horan told reporters: “We just want to address the disappointing situation regarding Korbin that took place last week.
“We have worked extremely hard to maintain the integrity of this national team across all generations, and we are extremely, extremely sad that this standard has not been met.
“Our fans and supporters feel like this is a team they can rally behind, and it’s so important that they feel and continue to feel undeniably heard and seen.”
Morgan, who like Rapinoe is a two-time World Cup winner, added: “We are committed to maintaining a safe and respectful space, particularly as allies and members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“This platform gave us the opportunity to highlight the causes that matters to us, something we never take for granted.
The two senior players were not initially listed as expected to participate in the call-up.
Mallory Swanson was, and when she joined the call shortly afterward, a reporter asked her for comment. The striker replied: “I appreciate the question. But like Alex and Lindsey said…we have internal conversations and we let those conversations stay internal.
At least two players on the current USWNT team are publicly out LGBTQ: defender Tierna Davidson, who is engaged to her partner Alison, and goalkeeper Jane Campbell, who married his wife Christine Nairn – herself a former USWNT international – in December.
The Albert controversy was also discussed on Tuesday’s episode of “The Women’s Game” podcast hosted by former USWNT player Sam Mewis.
His guest was forward Lynn Williams, who recently helped the national team win the CONCACAF Gold Cup alongside Horan and Morgan, but is not part of the SheBelieves Cup squad. Mewis and Williams shared Rapinoe’s Instagram Story post last week.
They discussed the past situation involving Jaelene Daniels, née Hinkle.who earned eight caps between 2015 and 2016 but later withdrew from the USWNT team rather than wear a jersey with a Pride rainbow jersey number.
Williams said: “At the time we didn’t know how to approach the situation and we prioritized football.
“I feel like if I’ve learned anything it’s that some things are bigger than football and one of them is human rights and making sure that people feel safe in their bodies and safe in this world.
“This topic is bigger than football and women’s football has been a safe space for the LGBTQ community and I think that affects the locker room a little bit.”
Mewis agrees: “Football aside, as a human being I don’t want to see intolerance spread and I think our women’s soccer community is a safer place in many ways than society in its entirety.
“We need to support trans people, gay people, because these groups are marginalized in society. This space does not accept that, whether because of the women who came before us and the people we know and love.
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