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| Abby Wambach |
Retired U.S. soccer champ was arrested late Saturday night for driving under the influence in Portland, Oregon, authorities said.
Wambach, 35, was charged with a misdemeanour's and released on her own recognisance, jail records show.
In a statement, Portland Police said that Wambach was pulled over shortly after 11 p.m. when a police officer saw her drive through a red light. After failing a sobriety test, she was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, the statement said.
In a note posted on her Facebook page, Wambach apologised and said that she was arrested after having dinner at a friend's house.
"Those that know me, know that I have always demanded excellence from myself. I have let myself and others down," she wrote. "I take full responsibility for my actions. This is all on me. I promise that I will do whatever it takes to ensure that my horrible mistake is never repeated."
Wambach added: "I am so sorry to my family, friends, fans and those that look to follow a better example."
In a statement, one of Wambach's sponsors, the car brand Mini, said it was pulling ads that feature her.
"We're obviously concerned about the alleged DUI attributed to Abby Wambach," the statement said. "This behaviour is against the values we promote as an organisation and the safety of everyone on the road is a priority here at MINI. Because of this, we are re-evaluating her association with the brand and are pulling content that individually features Abby from our marketing."
Some sponsors, including Nike, did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Gatorade, citing Wambach's "heartfelt" Facebook post, said it "has no further comment at this time."
Wambach, a two-time Olympic gold medallist, retired last October, just three months after she played on the U.S. women's team that beat Japan 5-2 in the World Cup finals.
Since retiring, Wambach has actively campaigned for Democratic presidential contender Hillary Clinton and pushed FIFA, the international soccer association that has been under fire over allegations of widespread corruption, to include more women on its executive committee.
Wambach's arrest comes three days after several of her former team-mates announced that they were filing a wage-discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that will seek pay that equals male players
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