More than 70 percent of members of the US Soccer governing body voted to drop the policy that players must “stand respectfully” during the song. About 30 percent voted to keep the policy in effect.
“We know this is very divisive in our country and around the world,” US soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone told reporters.
“So I wasn’t surprised that somehow our membership wasn’t 100 percent.”
The US women’s national team stood as a group during the national anthem ahead of their SheBelieves Cup match on Feb. 21 after some knees in the tournament opener on Feb. 18.
Team members said they had passed the protest phase of the national anthem debate, but are still determined to fight against systemic racism.
National Football League player Colin Kaepernick began kneeling during the national anthem in 2016 to protest racial injustice. Other players joined him until team owners banned training. That policy was reversed in 2020 amid a wave of national protests over racism and police brutality following George Floyd’s death in May.
That vote in the board required confirmation from the wider American Football Association, which received it on Saturday.