England and the U.S. women’s national team came together to recognize the continuing impact of the Yates report prior to Friday’s friendly at Wembley Stadium.
On Monday, the results of Sally Yates’ investigation into abusive behavior and sexual misconduct in women’s professional soccer was released, with a host of new details about abusive coaches and enablers at the highest levels of the game in the U.S.
In front of a sold-out crowd at Wembley, both teams posed in front of a banner that read “Protect The Players” prior to the game. Players on both teams also wore teal armbands to stand in solidarity with sexual violence survivors.
In the build-up to the game, England players Lucy Bronze and Beth Mead expressed solidarity with their American counterparts, which was gratefully received by U.S. star Megan Rapinoe.
“There’s just so much solidarity between the things that we have to fight for,” Rapinoe said in her pre-match press conference. “So obviously, there will come a time where we’ll be competing on the pitch, but I feel like everything before that, we’re all fighting together for the same things.”
Watch USWNT & England come together prior to friendly
The @Lionesses and @USWNT are wearing teal armbands to support violence and sexual abuse survivors pic.twitter.com/vGNbxnGIZh
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) October 7, 2022
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