Megan Rapinoe hits out at Olympic Committe for banning protests
A Women's World Cup winner with the USA, Rapinoe said that the athletes will not be silenced after being warned against any political messaging.
The International Olympics Committee has imposed a ban on athletes protesting while on the field of play, inside the Olympic Village, during medal celebrations and other official ceremonies for the upcoming 2020 Summer Games in Tokyo.
However, Megan Rapinoe issued a statement through her Instagram page on Friday. She said the athletes will not be silenced and if they want to kneel, do hand or sign gestures they should keep on doing them. The 34-year-old said that there is much to be done still because little to nothing is being done about their protests in the past.
Last Friday, Thomas Bach, the Olympics Committee President, gave his blessings to the IOC's new rules and said that athletes should have a neutral point of view when it comes to politics around the world and in their countries.
Also he supported this new rules arguing that political neutrality of the Olympics would be undercut if an athlete took a knee in protest on the medal podium. “They shouldn’t be a platform to advance political or any other divisive ends.”
Megan Rapinoe has been known to stand up for what she believes throughout her whole career. She was very outspoken during the past World Cup with celebrations and during interviews that she did not agree with US President, Donald Trump’s latest political decisions.
Also, she was one of the most important faces of the lawsuit against the US Federation because the World Cup winners of 2015 wanted to be paid the same as the US men’s national team. That lawsuit is still open.