Ahead of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, the U.S. Women's National Soccer Team has been widely criticized on social media for allegedly turning their backs while veteran Pete DuPre played the national anthem on his harmonica during a July 5 match.
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The team beat Mexico in their final match before the summer games, but not before many took to social media criticizing them, in some cases even calling for a boycott.
They're not alone in Olympics controversy: Another United States athlete, hammer thrower Gwen Berry, has taken heat after turning away from the flag and placing a T-shirt over her head while the nation's song played at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials.
Berry has also come in the light recently for old Tweets where she joked about rape and mocked other races, according to the New York Post.
But while the Berry protest was confirmed, several members of the soccer team have denied the claims that they turned their backs. Players have said they were not turning their back to Dupré, who was playing on one end of the field, but were instead facing the U.S. flag at the other end of the stadium.
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The U.S. Soccer Federation took to Twitter the day of the match, also refuting the claims against the players.
Two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and member of the team Carli Lloyd made it short and sweet when explaining what the team was doing as she responded to criticism online.
Dupré has a relationship with the women's soccer team, having played before one of their games in 2019 on Memorial Day. Similar to this game, the U.S. was playing Mexico in their final matchup before the FIFA World Cup.
USA Today reported that the U.S. Soccer Federation said Dupré had even met with the USWNT players in Normandy when the team was in France in January 2019. He reportedly has a "unique tie with the U.S. Women."
While the team says they were not protesting here, many others have been protesting the Olympics over several decisions made the last few weeks, including not allowing U.S. sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson to compete following a positive drug test for marijuana.
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The Olympics are set to start on Friday, July 23 -- almost one year after they were delayed due to the pandemic.