The Washington PostDemocracy Dies in Darkness

Plans for U.S. women’s match at RFK Stadium fall through

May 29, 2016 at 1:20 p.m. EDT

The U.S. women’s national team will not play at RFK Stadium this summer, after all.

Despite signing a contract with local organizers, the U.S. Soccer Federation has abandoned plans for the world champions to play their final Olympic tuneup in Washington, sources familiar with the situation said this weekend.

The federation apparently became uneasy about trying to draw a big crowd for a celebratory match that, because of the TV slots offered, would have to start at an imperfect time: Fri., July 22 at 9 p.m. ET or Sun., July 24 at 11 a.m. ET.

Local officials declined to comment on the match’s status and the USSF did not respond to questions.

The USSF never announced that the game would take place at RFK — final details, including the opponent, were still up in the air — but it did say the women’s team would play somewhere that weekend before packing for Brazil.

RFK was the front-runner for several weeks, leading to the recent agreement. However, the USSF maintained the right to change plans if issues arose regarding TV and the starting time.

The U.S. women have won all nine matches at RFK, most recently in October 2014 against Haiti.

With RFK out, it’s unclear where the USSF has turned its attention. The Friday night TV slot would work best in the Central or Mountain time zone (8 p.m. and 7 p.m., respectively). Only an East Coast venue could accommodate an 11 a.m. kickoff on Sunday.

The Americans will open Olympic training camp in early July and play South Africa on July 9 at Chicago’s Soldier Field.

While the pre-Olympic schedule remains incomplete, Jill Ellis has gathered 24 players for training camp in the Denver area ahead of two friendlies against Japan: Thursday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo., and Sunday at Cleveland’s FirstEnergy Stadium.

Fourteen players were on the World Cup squad last summer.

The first match, at an MLS stadium with about 19,000 seats, sold out quickly. More than 21,000 tickets have been issued at the Browns’ venue. The teams are facing one another for the first time since the World Cup final in Vancouver, a 5-2 U.S. triumph.

Ellis is in the process of whittling her Olympic roster to 18 players. She will have 18 in uniform for the upcoming matches, with personnel likely to change for each match. The official Olympic squad, as well as the alternates, is not expected for several more weeks.

The biggest name in U.S. soccer – male or female — will miss the Japan friendlies: Midfielder Carli Lloyd is recovering from a knee sprain. She is on course for a full recovery in time for the Olympics.

Defender Christie Rampone, who turns 41 next month, was invited to the current camp but withdrew Tuesday for fitness reasons. She had knee surgery in December and, although she played in six National Women’s Soccer League matches this spring, the demands of international play prompted her to reconsider.

Despite returning to action in the NWSL, “I also have an understanding of the level of fitness and health needed to push for an Olympic roster spot and I know I’m not there right now,” said Rampone, a member of five World Cup and four Olympic squads. “It’s not the right choice for myself or the team to put myself in that environment.”

World Cup forwards Amy Rodriguez and Sydney Leroux will miss the Olympics because of pregnancy, and midfielder Megan Rapinoe is in a race against time in her recovery from an ACL tear.

The squad facing Japan features 21 NWSL players, including attacker Crystal Dunn and defender Ali Krieger from the Washington Spirit. The non-NWSL invitees are UCLA-bound attacker Mallory Pugh, Wisconsin midfielder Rose Lavelle and Bayern Munich defender Gina Lewandowski.

With a pair of victories against Japan, the Americans (11-0-0 in 2016) would set a program record for most consecutive wins to start a year. The 1991 and ’97 campaigns began with 12 straight triumphs.