Earlier this year, United States Women’s National Team star Korbin Albert faced a lot of criticism after she was found to have reposted several anti-LGBTQ videos on her TikTok account. Despite the controversy, Albert was still selected as part of the team’s roster for the upcoming Olympics in Paris, and head coach Emma Hayes explained that decision.
When asked about the decision to allow Korbin Albert to represent the USWNT despite her previous comments, Emma Hayes said that Albert is deserving of the roster spot and that there has been “a lot of work going on in the background” following her controversial social media activity.
“I mean, first of all, we know Korbin making the team is on merit in terms of what she offers for us in the midfield positions. I think she’s demonstrated, in Gold Cup, that she can play, a lot of games in quick succession. She’s got the ability to play all three midfield positions, though probably an eight is her best position,” Hayes said.
FULL QUOTE: #USWNT Emma Hayes on Korbin Albert's selection
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“When it comes to a situation that, I came into, there’s no denying, there’s been a lot of work that’s been going on in the background, to work with Korbin. And as I’ve expressed on a couple of occasions, I think it’s really important that everybody in this team understands the importance of not just being tolerant and respectful and understanding, the things that are going to matter to us all that, Korbin has had to learn and as my experiences with her has been, someone who’s you know, she’s a young person who’s understood fully the implications of social media activity and I’m not going to go into that in great detail, because that’s between Korbin and I but the conversations we have had has been to talk about the importance of what we have to be mindful of and how we’re all part of an environment that’s one that appreciates and understands the damage that can do and she has been a delight to coach. I think she’s had a really, really tough time. She’s really struggled.
“I think some of that has shown in her performances I think she’s one, a person that you know, understandably, it’s young person and you having to deal with a lot of criticism, rightfully so. And a lot of, she can hear the noise in the stadium, that’s affected her. But I can say firsthand that having spent a limited time with Korbin, that she really is a lovely person and someone who really values the most important things and that she’s spending time working on herself, as we all do. And I look forward to building on that with her and I want everybody to know that my job is to make sure I keep doing that and I want the fans to really embrace Korbin because I do think she’s a tremendous human being.”
While Albert made the roster, USWNT legend Alex Morgan was notably not included among the selections.
