Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter Accused Of Groping 2 Time Gold Medalist

Former Fifa President Sepp Blatter has been accused of groping two-time Olympic gold medalist and former USA goalkeeper Hope Solo. 

The shotstopper, 36, claims Blatter “grabbed her ass” just moments before she took to the stage at the Ballon d’Or awards ceremony in January 2013.


In an interview with the Portuguese outlet published on Saturday, Solo claimed Blatter "grabbed her ass" at FIFA’s Ballon d’Or awards ceremony in January 2013, where Solo presented the FIFA Women’s World Player of the Year award on stage alongside Blatter.


Solo told The Guardian that she had to compose herself to make a speech before she handed the award to her U.S. teammate Abby Wambach.


I was in shock and completely thrown off,” Solo said, according to the British publication. I had to quickly pull myself together to present my teammate with the biggest award of her career and celebrate with her in that moment, so I completely shifted my focus to Abby.


According to The Guardian, Blatter has denied the incident taking place, saying: “This allegation is ridiculous."


Over the past month, celebrities have been speaking out about sexual harassment by people in power. Expresso interviewed Solo about the topic and she admitted that "I had Sepp Blatter grab my ass."


"Can I talk about that?" she continued. "It was at the Ballon d'Or one year, right before I went on stage ... It's been normalized."


Solo has taken to social media to praise those who have spoken out against sexual harassment using the hashtag #MeToo. 

“For the past few days, I have been thinking about all the uncomfortable situations myself and/or my team-mates have experienced throughout the years with trainers, doctors, coaches, executives and even team-mates," she wrote on Instagram. "From inappropriate comments, unwanted advances and grabs of the ass to coaches and [general managers] and even press officers speaking about players’ ‘tits’ and physical appearance, sexual harassment is rampant in the sports world. 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. Silence will not change the world!”


Culled from Guardian.co.uk