NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird: "The NWSL is a league that was built on diversity and courage and those principles will continue to drive us forward.”
The NWSL announced on Monday it will allow players to stay in locker rooms during the national anthem before games for the remainder of the Challenge Cup.
The decision comes after several teams chose to kneel during the anthem over the weekend when the league returned. Both starting lineups for the Thorns and Courage, as well as the bench players on the sidelines, kneeled ahead of Saturday's Challenge Cup opener. Later, the Red Stars' Casey Short and Julie Ertz shared an emotional moment during the national anthem before their game against the Spirit.
The teams' choice to kneel comes after peaceful protests have occurred worldwide following the killing of George Floyd in late May. Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin placed his knee on Floyd's neck for nearly nine minutes.
In 2016, former 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick gained national attention for kneeling during the anthem to peacefully protest police brutality and racial injustice. NWSL and MLS were both supportive of athletes exercising their right to peacefully protest that year. Neither of those stances has changed, officials in both leagues have said.