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U.S. Soccer has suspended goalkeeper Hope Solo for six months after her controversial comments at the Olympics, the federation announced Wednesday.

U.S. women’s coach Jill Ellis and U.S. Soccer general secretary Dan Flynn met with Solo, 35, in Seattle on Wednesday afternoon and gave her the news. The move follows Solo’s comments at the Olympics when she called the Swedish players “cowards” for their defensive style in eliminating the U.S. in the quarterfinals.

Solo, who received public criticism from teammate Megan Rapinoe and U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati for her comments, did not apologize for them.

“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 in a press release. “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.”

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http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/soccer/u...ID=ansmsnnews11

Once again I am torn. Yes, what Hope, no stranger to controversy, said was in bad taste, but there may be other factors which should be considered.

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No matter how you feel about Hope Solo's recent six-month suspension from U.S. Women's Soccer, it's difficult not to be moved by the footage showing her stunned, tearful reaction immediately after receiving the news that her storied career is possibly finished.

"Seventeen f------ years and it's over," an angry, teary-eyed Solo shouts in an exclusive clip from the Fullscreen series Keeping Score, obtained by PEOPLE.

A camera crew from the documentary series was on hand at a Seattle hotel to capture Solo's reaction after her Aug. 24 meeting with United States Coach Jill Ellis and the federation's chief executive, Dan Flynn. The decision to discipline Solo came after she called the Swedish team "a bunch of cowards" after they eliminated the United States in the quarterfinals of the Rio Olympics.

"Six months suspension," Solo says as she hugs her husband, former NFL player Jerramy Stevens, in a nearby hotel conference room. "No pay. Terminated contract. Effective immediately."

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Followed, of course, by this:

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And while many applauded the decision, some have questioned whether Solo, who has been crusading for better pay for female players, was punished more harshly than a male player would have been.

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http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/soccer/t...ocid=spartanntp

'twas once said by Samuel Johnson that, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel". Today that needs to updated to read, "A cry of discrimination is the last refuge of a scoundrel. "

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Hope Solo believes her six-month suspension and termination of contract by U.S. soccer stems more from her stance toward equal pay than her controversial Olympic comments.

In a new episode of the documentary “Keeping Score,” Solo speaks on camera immediately following her meeting with coach Jill Ellis and U.S. Soccer CEO Dan Flynn where she learned the news, but also speaks again later on with a more measured opinion. She says she thinks her role in the fight for equal pay for women’s soccer players had a role in her effective dismissal from the program.

“Literally 17 years on this team and then to be treated this way in the end is, (pause), not surprising from U.S. Soccer, to be honest,” she said. “... I feel like I’m being pushed out ‘cause it can’t be based off performance, my health. It can’t be based off anything but they don’t like me ... because they know I’ve been fighting so hard for equal pay.”

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http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/soccer/s...ocid=spartandhp