Martin Rogers

USA TODAY Sports

RIO DE JANEIRO – Hope Solo is “unlikely” to receive an official International Olympic Committee sanction over her comments describing Sweden’s women’s soccer team as “cowards.”

Solo, the controversial United States goalkeeper, spoke out after the Americans were eliminated in the quarterfinal of the Olympic tournament on penalty kicks on Friday.

The 35-year-old was infuriated by what she perceived as Sweden’s negative and defensive game plan following a tight contest that ended 1-1 after extra time before the Swedes won 4-3 on penalties.

“I’m very proud of this team,” Solo said. “But I also think we played a bunch of cowards. The best team did not win today.”

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The IOC takes a firm stance of acts it considers may sully the reputation of the Olympics. An Egyptian judo player who refused to shake the hand of his Israeli opponent came under investigation this week.

However, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Solo would probably escape censure.

“I think it’s unlikely,” Adams said. “It falls I think into the category of sportsmanship. Things are said in the heat of the moment. Clearly passions run very, very high and people say things they regret. We would just call for people to treat their opponents with sportsmanship and respect during these Games.”

The loss was a bitter pill for the U.S. team, which had won the last three Olympic titles and is the current Women’s World Cup champion, but Solo’s remarks earned her a torrent of criticism.

“I’m always nervous about commenting on reports of reports, but if those were the comments, then it is disappointing,” Adams added.

“We can only keep talking about how we hope athletes will treat each other and the Olympic values, and people are free to say those things. We wouldn’t stop their right to express themselves, within boundaries obviously.”

Contributing: Alan Gomez.

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