In pro soccer, cannabis advocacy rarely looks like a locker-room rallying cry. More often, it arrives through the side door: recovery routines, wellness startups, and careful language about what is—and isn’t—allowed under anti-doping rules. That nuance matters. Under the World Anti-Doping Agency’s framework, CBD has been permitted since 2018, while THC remains prohibited in-competition above a set urinary threshold—a line that keeps many athletes cautious even as public attitudes shift.

Still, a handful of soccer names have chosen to attach their reputations to the cannabis conversation anyway—usually for the same reason they played through bruises: they believe the status quo isn’t good enough.

Megan Rapinoe has been one of the most prominent examples of a modern soccer star lending her voice to cannabis-adjacent recovery. Rapinoe has spoken publicly about stigma around cannabis and CBD for athletes and aligned herself with Mendi, a recovery brand tied to her family, in a move that framed cannabinoids less as a taboo and more as a practical alternative in a sport built on overuse injuries. The pitch was straightforward: elite athletes are constantly managing pain, inflammation, sleep, and stress—so the tools they use shouldn’t be whispered about like contraband.

That same recovery-first message shows up in other soccer-adjacent endorsements. Carli Lloyd, a World Cup and Olympic winner, partnered with CBDMEDIC, positioning CBD topicals as part of her body-maintenance toolkit—an approach that speaks to fans who understand that longevity at the top is often about what happens after training, not during it.

For some players, advocacy becomes entrepreneurship. Rodney Wallace, the Costa Rican pro who played in MLS, has been profiled for building a business story around CBD—an example of an athlete treating cannabis not just as a product category, but as a post-career lane with cultural momentum and consumer demand. In a sport where many retire with lingering injuries, that throughline—“there has to be a better option than cycling through pills”—keeps reappearing.

Across the Atlantic, the conversation can be louder—and messier—among former pros. High-profile ex-footballers John Hartson and Matt Le Tissier have publicly promoted CBD products, leaning into the idea that cannabinoids help with recovery and wellbeing. But their endorsements also underline the risks in this space: UK regulators have ruled that some promotional posts broke advertising rules, including failures to clearly label ads and avoid medical-style claims.

Put together, these examples show where soccer’s cannabis advocacy is most likely to grow: not through teams embracing THC sponsorships overnight, but through athletes reframing cannabis-derived wellness as part of legitimate performance culture—while navigating the fine print of rules, testing, and marketing compliance.

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