--- title: Hope Solo Accuses Sepp Blatter of Sexual Assault description: Hope Solo has accused former FIFA president Sepp Blatter of sexually assaulting her at an awards ceremony in 2013 canonical: https://time.com/5019842/hope-solo-sepp-blatter-sexual-assault/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-11-10T22:50:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T18:12:23.001Z article:section: Sports og:title: Hope Solo Accuses Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter of Sexual Assault og:description: Hope Solo accused Sepp Blatter of sexually assaulting her at an awards ceremony og:url: https://time.com/5019842/hope-solo-sepp-blatter-sexual-assault/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf07e10ac970a1841/6988e570929fad08ddbee720/hope-solo-sepp-blatter.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala 2012 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Hope Solo Accuses Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter of Sexual Assault twitter:description: Hope Solo accused Sepp Blatter of sexually assaulting her at an awards ceremony twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf07e10ac970a1841/6988e570929fad08ddbee720/hope-solo-sepp-blatter.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Hope Solo Accuses Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter of Sexual Assault by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Nov 10, 2017 10:50 PM UTC  Hope Solo and Joseph Blatter, FIFA president announce Abby Wambach of United States during the FIFA womens player of the year trophy during the FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala 2013 at Congress House on January 07, 2013 in Zurich, Switzerland. Hope Solo and Joseph Blatter, FIFA president announce Abby Wambach of United States during the FIFA womens player of the year trophy during the FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala 2013 at Congress House on January 07, 2013 in Zurich, Switzerland.Christof Koepsel—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Nov 10, 2017 10:50 PM UTC Hope Solo, the U.S. women’s national soccer team goalkeeper, has accused former FIFA president Sepp Blatter of sexual assault. Solo said in an interview with the Portuguese newspaper _Expresso_ that Blatter grabbed her butt during FIFA’s Ballon d’Or awards ceremony in January 2013. “I had Sepp Blatter grab my ass,” Solo said.”It was at the Ballon D’or one year, right before I went on stage.” That year, Solo was onstage to present FIFA’s women’s world player of the year to her teammate, the striker Abby Wambach. Blatter joined Solo on stage. “I was in shock and completely thrown off,” Solo [told the Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/nov/10/hope-solo-sepp-blatter-fifa-sexual-assault-accusation?CMP=share%5Fbtn%5Ftw) of the alleged assault. “I had to quickly pull myself together to present my teammate with the biggest award of her career and celebrate in that moment, so I completely shifted my focus to Abby.” A spokesperson for Blatter told the Guardian the “allegation is ridiculous.” Blatter’s attorney and his personal foundation did not immediately respond to TIME’s request for comment. The ex-FIFA president, who [resigned from his post in 2015](http://time.com/4108102/sepp-blatter-hospitalized-stress/) following a corruption scandal, has publicly made numerous sexist comments, including his 2004 suggestion that women soccer players [wear “tighter shorts.” ](http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/29/football/fifa-sepp-blatter-gaffes-football/index.html) Last month, Solo joined the [#MeToo](http://time.com/4983500/harvey-weinstein-sexual-harassment-campaign-metoo-social-media-campaign/) social media campaign which raised awareness of the prevalence of sexual harassment and assault with an Instagram post commending the women who came forward to accuse Harvey Weinstein of misconduct and detailing similar incidents in the sports world. “From inappropriate comments, unwanted advances and grabs of the ass to coaches and GMs and even press officers speaking about players’ “tits” and physical appearance, sexual harassment is rampant in the sports world,” Solo wrote. “I always felt I’d “handled it” and stood up for myself in those situations, but there were never any consequences for the perpetrators. That needs to change.” Solo’s accusation against Blatter comes as several women are speaking up about sexual misconduct. In the wake of the Weinstein scandal, dozens of [prominent men have been accused of sexual misconduct](http://time.com/5015204/harvey-weinstein-scandal/), ranging from groping to rape, including former President George H.W. 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