Hope Solo is an integral part of the USA football team in this year's World Cup but she is currently finding it difficult to shake accusations of a domestic violence incident from last year.
Last year in June, the goalkeeper was arrested on two counts of alleged domestic abuse. She was accused of attacking her half-sister and smashing her 17-year-old nephew's head into a concrete pavement. Her half-sister claimed that she had repeatedly punched her.
According to an ESPN report, Solo was abusive to officers when she was arrested. Both her and her nephew claimed that she had been hit over the head with a broom by him; he claimed it was in order that she would stop hitting his mother.
The case was dismissed at the beginning of the year because her half-sister and son left in order to avoid a deposition and apparently information was withheld from Solo's lawyers by prosecutors.
Solo has since described the incident and everything that happened afterwards as "traumatic".
Her half-sister came forward to discuss details of the case just a couple of weeks ago and that new ESPN report detailed some of the police reports of the incident.
She told People: "It's been a painful year. I almost lost my career. It's been traumatic and embarrassing."
However, it's not over yet. Prosecutors have filed an appeal with the Superior Court of Washington and are due to file their argument on July 13th. Although dismissed, she has never been cleared.
ESPN reports that in a press conference when asked about the case, she replied: "I'm here to talk about the World Cup and soccer," Solo said. "What I can tell you is that I'm in the best place in my life both on the field and off the field. I have great teammates behind me, a great coaching staff, and I'm just honestly really excited for my third World Cup."
The USA will face China in the quarter finals on 26th June.
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