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Women's World Cup Notebook U.S. women defy FIFA on wedding rings
Posted: Saturday June 26, 1999 09:11 PM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Just before their Women's World Cup opener against Denmark last weekend, the married U.S. players were told by a FIFA official to take off their wedding rings. That was one battle the international organizing body for soccer was going to lose. "This FIFA guy was having a cow about our rings and told us we had to take them all off before we could go on the field," co-captain Julie Foudy said Saturday. "That's a joke. The men have all these chains they wear when they play, and in international friendlies, we can wear jewelry. "So we stood in the tunnel and just kept smiling as he talked and nodded and said, `OK.' I looked over at Mich [Michelle Akers] and we said to each other, `We're not taking them off.' "I guess, theoretically, they could do something." Instead, another FIFA official came along and said it was fine for the women to keep their wedding rings on.
NO SUPPORT: Oleg Lapshin, the president of the Russian women's soccer association, had a short response when asked about the popularity of women's soccer in his homeland. "Very weak support, quite frankly," he said. Despite that, Lapshin noted that Russia has a professional women's league that includes eight teams, from which most of Russia's national players are picked. That should offer some ammunition for those who support establishing a professional league in the United States. UNPRECEDENTED SUPPORT: When the U.S. women's team arrived in Boston on Friday, it was greeted by, of all things, a marching band. "Can you imagine that!" Sara Whalen said. "It's out of control. "A few weeks ago, people didn't even know about us. Now, we're met by marching bands at the airport. The attention has been out of this world to me. It's great reaching out for the population and having this kind of response." The team's practice session at Babson College in Wellesley, Mass., a suburb of Boston, was attended by about 300 fans, even though the workout was not publicized. "How great is this?" said Whelan, who made her World Cup debut as a substitute in Thursday's 7-1 win over Nigeria. "We did not expect it to be like this, with sellouts at the games and big crowds coming to our practices. It says a lot about women's soccer." TOURING THE USA: In the old days, seeded teams in a World Cup had the advantage of staying in the same city. The others had to travel. Now, everybody has to travel, some much more than others. China isn't happy about having to criss-cross the United States twice, and Russia now will have to do it three times -- five times if it reaches the semifinals. "Indeed, our No. 1 opponent was the heat," Russian coach Yurii Bystritzkii said after his team played in 88-degree weather and 65 percent humidity Saturday in a 4-1 victory over Canada at Giants Stadium. "The second was having to travel on a tight schedule, to put it mildly. We checked the schedules, and Russia has the most disadvantageous position." Russia started out in Foxboro, Mass., for its opener against Sweden, flew to Portland, Ore., for a game against Japan, then came back to the East Coast for its game Saturday in East Rutherford, N.J. It has a quarterfinal date on Wednesday against China, Sweden or Ghana, in San Jose, Calif. If it wins there, it would have to go back to the East Coast one more time for a semifinal in Foxboro, and then back to Pasadena, Calif., for the title game or third-place match.
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