Teen soccer star Olivia Moultrie has filed a lawsuit against the National Women’s Soccer League, according to The Oregonian’s Maxine Bernstein.
Moultrie, 15, claims the NWSL’s requirement that all players must be at least 18 violates the Sherman Antitrust Act. She hopes to join the NWSL when the league’s regular season begins on May 15.
“Ms. Moultrie does not seek an order from this Court awarding her a contract or a roster slot,” her lawyers wrote in a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Portland. “Rather, she seeks removal of an unlawful barrier to her participation.”
Moultrie is one of the youngest soccer phenoms in recent memory. She accepted a scholarship to North Carolina when she was 11 and turned pro two years later with a “nine-year, six-figure endorsement contract with Nike,” per the Oregonian.
The NWSL argues its current age restriction does not violate the Sherman Act as it acts as a “single entity.” Moultrie’s lawyers have challenged that notion and argue that an age limit can only be in place for a league with a collective bargaining agreement. No such agreement is currently in place in the NWSL.
Players across Europe and the MLS have competed in the professional league before turning 18. Moultrie has reportedly requested a spot on NWSL rosters multiple times since 2019, but those offers have been rebuffed by the league.
“Ms. Moultrie would be eligible to play in MLS if she were male, would be able to play in France if she were French,” the lawsuit states. “Ms. Moultrie is in the wrong country, and the wrong gender, to take advantage of her soccer precocity. And illegally so.”
