More than 70 percent of the members of US Soccer’s governing body voted to remove the policy that requires players to ‘stand respectfully’ during the song. About 30 percent voted to keep the policy in place.
“We know this is a very divisive issue in our country and around the world,” Cindy Parlow Cone, US president of football, told reporters.
“So I was not surprised that our membership was not somehow.”
The American women’s team stood as a group during the national anthem before their SheBelieves Cup match on February 21 after a couple knelt in the tournament on February 18.
Team members said they were over the protest phase of the national anthem debate but were still committed to ending systematic racism.
National Football League player Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 to protest racial injustice. Other players joined him until team owners banned the practice. This policy was reversed in 2020 during a wave of national protests over racism and police brutality following the death of George Floyd in May.
The council’s vote calls for confirmation by the broader U.S. football governing body, which it received on Saturday.