Hope Solo Rips Athletes Council Vote for Carlos Cordeiro as US Soccer President

The United States Soccer Federation elected Carlos Cordeiro as its newest president Saturday, per ESPN.com, and fellow candidate Hope Solo was not happy about it.

"They don't want change," the former U.S. women's national team star said, per Jeff Carlisle of ESPN.com. "But they have to realize that they represent all athletes of America, ages six all the way up to 60 and above. They represent everybody, and what they did is they failed many of us."

Meanwhile, Solo also questioned the integrity of the Athletes Council, which voted in a group for Cordeiro.

"The Athletes Council, they were under extreme pressure from the Federation, and change is very difficult for people," she said. "They are the beneficiaries of many opportunities that Soccer United Marketing as well as the Federation gives them with appearances, and many of them make money doing these appearances."

Stuart Holden, a member of the 20-person Athletes Council that represented 20 percent of the overall vote, defended himself against Solo's accusations:

Cordeiro was considered an establishment candidate after having served as former president Sunil Gulati's second in command, but former players had his back instead of recent U.S. team members like Solo, Eric Wynalda and Kyle Martino.

"We got a candidate we can unify behind," Holden said about Cordeiro after the vote, per Fox Soccer.

Solo earned 1.6 percent of the first vote, per Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated, good for sixth place out of eight candidates. After three candidates dropped out, she earned 1.4 percent of the final vote for fifth place, per Fox Soccer.