Megan Rapinoe’s Coach Says Star Will Skip N.W.S.L. Event

Megan Rapinoe, the biggest star in women’s soccer, will not be on the field when the National Women’s Soccer League becomes one of the first American sports leagues to resume competition later this month, her coach said.

Rapinoe’s apparent decision to sit out a monthlong tournament in Utah — neither Rapinoe, her agent or her team, OL Reign, would confirm she had made a binding decision not to play — was revealed by her new coach, Farid Benstiti, in an interview with the French newspaper Le Progrès.

“I understand her motivations, but I am disappointed and frustrated that she will not be with us to compete in this tournament,” Benstiti told Le Progrès. “Megan is important to the group, and we could have achieved something big if she had joined the rest of the group. She will be missed by the team and also by women’s football.”

The Utah tournament, the N.W.S.L. Challenge Cup, is a new competition arranged by the league as a way to ensure it will play something resembling a season this year amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/04/sports/soccer/megan-rapinoe-nwsl.html