Should US National Team Players Be Required To Stand For The National Anthem?

No. Defeats the entire idea behind the anthem and the core beliefs of this country to make patriotism mandatory.

 

This could get out of hand quickly. But no.

 

I don't care if NFL, NBA, etc. players don't stand for the anthem, but I think those representing their country should. If you won't stand for the anthem, then don't accept callups to the NT.

 

Poor form on ussf's part

 

Being respectful is not "patriotism". I expect people to be respectful for any national anthem. So when the Canucks play "O Canada", I expect all players to remain standing and respectful. And visa versa. No kneeling, no sitting on your hands, no jumping jacks, backflips, or flipping the bird. Just don't do anything one way or the other till after the anthem, as a common courtesy.

 

If Landon had done this we wouldn't even be talking about this.

In my eyes there was no disrespect -- it was giving respect to the idea of equality/civil rights.

 

That's probably the best argument I've heard for this position. I may change my view on this basis

 

The counterargument is that doing nothing is acting in support of something when you want to be speaking out. Imo it's not about respect or courtesy, it's about disagreeing with the message. If somebody held up a flag or had a shirt saying "support the troops" the argument about respect and courtesy wouldn't be brought up.

 

The counter-counter argument is that by agreeing to play in the game, you agree to leave all of your political messaging out of one small part of the ceremonies. As a matter of course.

Wave your flags, raise your fist, kneel, or put up your "support our troops" banner after the anthems play. If you can't restrain yourself from proclaiming your personal political views at every single opportunity, you've got one big, disrespectful, ego, whether you wrap yourself in the flag or burn it.

Allow me to conjure up a similar situation. I'm not a very religious person, but sometimes I eat at the dinner tables of family members or friends who say some form of grace before the meal. Out of respect, I follow along, even though I'm not Jewish, Baptist, Hindu, or Lutheran (the only religious sects that have said a grace when I was there, I'm sure there are many more). Even though I could interrupt, it's a free country, after all, it's not about "the message", but being respectful. I'd expect, even the most anti-religious person, to control themselves in the same situation.

 

I don't have a problem with leaving all personal or political messaging out of the anthems. I believe that you're sincere in your views and I don't find them troubling. However, there definitely are people whose primary issue is the message and use the 'respect and courtesy' position to attack a position they disagree with rather than a tactic they disagree with.

 

I go by the old school Tony La Russa way of doing things.

Sure you have the right to take a knee. And the Organization you play for has the right to sit your ass on the bench and tell you what you are doing is wrong or never call you up again in this case.
Freedom goes both ways.

 

This....Don't use any anthem to make a statement. It's a time to show respect not grab for attention.

 

I'm ok with the ruling as I think there's a big difference between kneeling when it's a part of your job (a professional athlete and the team that pays them) compared to representing the national team, which is a choice. I'm also ok with athletes kneeling when on their regular teams.

 

There is a counter-counter story to this. Say you're sitting at the table with said religious person, and you happen to believe in evolution. Then said religious person begins praying that he/she wishes God to save/change all the heathens that believe in evolution, and that in all likelihood all those believers will go to hell. Could you control yourself in that situation? Most people can and do, but I couldn't argue against anyone that spoke up right then.

The importance of the message far outweighs any respect that the national anthem deserves. Lives are at stake.

 

Leaving aside the fact that national anthems are nowhere near analogous to a religious fundamentalist in the metaphors that we're dealing with here, the point remains that, if you can't control yourself, that's your problem. Like I said, you can be as anti-religious as you want. But you chose to go sit at a table where people say grace every single time. It's not a surprise. Please don't be a jerk about it, and just wait till it's over.

As an athlete, you go to events that play one, or more, national anthem. Every. Time. It's not a nationalistic trap that's been sprung or a contract signaling endorsement of governmental activities. Heck, when an anthem is somehow played incorrectly (e.g playing the wrong anthem, or the sound system not working), people get angry. Why? Because even making a mistake while playing the anthem is seen as "disrespect" to the people of that country. So, when people assert that "be respectful" is a crutch used to silence criticism that I'm presumed to be against, I wonder what they've been watching.

 

There shouldn't even be a national anthem for club matches. It's silly. You aren't representing any nation and you're basically playing intra-nationally. Plus, you could be making a statement against the policies of that country, which even in the song lyrics is in the principles of the nation. It's hypocritical to take umbrage with that. Also, you may know the history of using the national anthem in this regard is war propaganda, which is a machine it keeps feeding, that you may want to encourage starving finally. In addition, players need to make a living, but that doesn't mean they need to compromise what they believe in. I fully support Colin Kaepernick's choice, and I think it's well-meaning, in addition to courageous, although at the same time I don't think he's doing it for particularly the right reasons. I'm not going to get into that because we know how that goes already on this forum.

A NATIONAL team match drastically changes the circumstances. You are playing for a country and it's an elective thing to accept a call-up. If you really had a problem with the policies of a country, you could not accept invitations, even to big tournaments like the World Cup. If you were an impact player that would get people's attention more than not standing for the anthem, which at this point would be old news. I've made this clear before too in other potentially controversial discussions I just look at international football as a sporting competition, not one where you're trying to compete on whose politics or culture are superior. So from my viewpoint, I'd accept call-ups and stand without serious qualms, even though I am in strong opposition to many of the U.S.' policies in present day. Someone who looks at it differently may be inclined to not stand, but if that's the case don't accept the invitation in the first place and the problem solves itself.

Once there I guess I don't have a problem with USS making it mandatory to show pride in representing the nation and not dividing the team potentially. Consequentially and even principally I think it makes sense for them to impose this rule. Although my first instinct was to defend the rights of the conscientious objectors because our country is supposed to provide people that right, as well as the priorities of politics vs. society vs. sport. Sport should take a backseat, in the vast majority of the cases. This is not one of them, however.

 

I think it's important to make a distinction here. Anyone can use a national anthem to make a political statement of some kind. Nobody is saying that they can't. The question posed is two-fold: is it objectionable to use an anthem to make a political statement, and does US Soccer overreach in mandating "respect and attention" while the anthems are played?

My response is, yes, it is objectionable to use an anthem to make a political statement. There is a long-standing and useful expectation of respect for national anthems, moreso than any other televised/non-televised ceremony. You just shouldn't take a song and turn it into a megaphone for your personal beliefs.

And secondly, no US Soccer does not overreach by mandating that players respect national anthems that are being played. There should be no double standard, where US players stand respecfully for the US anthem, yet jeer or protest another country's anthem. Show respect for all of them.

OT, but I take umbrage with Kaepernick's kneel not only because it goes against my feelings on political statements during anthems, but also because he created a long-running and hurtful distraction to the team. Maybe if Sackorpick had spent a little more time in the film room instead of curating his well-publicized multi-million dollar sneaker collection, we wouldn't have paid millions of dollars for a dispassionate QB that got beat out by Blaine-freaking-Gabbert, a JAGUARS castoff. But, as soon as he kneels and makes political statements, suddenly the pressure's off, and his play on the field matters less than what he says off of it. And that should not be the case when considering a current athlete (unless they do something egregious off the field, in which case of course, it matters if an athlete kills someone or something like that).

 

I say yes, they should.

For their individual teams, a different matter. Want to kneel/protest when you play for LAG or the Thorns or 49ers, go right ahead. But when you're wearing the NT jersey and representing our country in international competition, I don't think that's really the time to disrespect the flag.

IMO it would be a terrible look if say, during the national anthem of USA vs CR in WCQing, to have half the team take a knee. And if you have that level if disrespect towards the anthem/flag, why are you donning our NT jersey and representing our country?

That's not to say I don't respect the right to protest or kneel, but there's numerous outlets/options to do that aside from when you put on the NT jersey. Don't do that while actively representing our country as the NT itself represents unity and togetherness as a team, representing our nation.

 

Yes, playing for the national team is a choice, if you have a problem with whatever you have a problem with show your protest by not playing. As a member of the US Navy I don't care if you don't want to stand for your club team, have at it hoss, but if you make the decision to voluntarily put on that jersey then you put your opinions aside. Complain on social media like everyone else.

 

I just miss when people were proud to be an American. For all it's faults, it's still the best damn country on earth.

 

For starters, I don't see the point of national anthems before club matches. I feel national anthems are inherently political, so I really don't mind if people use it to make a statement, since I'm forced to sit through an unsolicited political statement anyway by default. In fact, I encourage it.

NT matches is a different story. I think it's kinda questionable (or at least hypocritical) to accept a NATIONAL TEAM call-up, which means taking a paycheck to come play for your country, then sit / kneel during the anthem. That's a little bit of having your cake and eating it, too. If your conscience really bothers you, then sit out a couple matches.