More than 70 percent of football’s governing body members voted to cancel the policy that requires players to “stand up respectfully” during the song. About 30 percent voted to keep the policy in place.
“We know this is an issue that causes a lot of division in our country and around the world,” Cindy Parlow Cone, president of United States football, told reporters.
“So I was not surprised that our members were not 100 percent in one way or another.”
The United States women’s team stood as a group during the anthem before the SheBelieves Cup game on February 21, after some knelt at the opening of the tournament on February 18.
The team members said they had already passed the protest phase of the anthem debate, but are still committed to the fight to end systemic racism.
National Football League player Colin Kaepernick started to kneel during the anthem in 2016 to protest racial injustice. Other players joined him until the team owners forbade the practice. That policy was reversed in 2020 during a wave of national protests against racism and police brutality after George Floyd’s death in May.
The board’s vote required confirmation from the American football regulator, which it received on Saturday.