Prominent mainstream media outlets spread a misleading viral story Tuesday claiming that a Nebraska girl's soccer team was disqualified from a tournament because her hair made her look like a boy.
The Washington Post, for example, reported that "A girl with short hair was kicked out of a soccer tournament because she 'looks like a boy.'" The New York Times' headline similarly read, "'They Thought I Was a Boy': Short-Haired Girl Barred From Soccer Tournament."
ESPN framed the story as, "Nebraska soccer tournament bans 8-year-old girl's team because she 'looks like a boy.'" TIME's headline read, "Girl Booted From Soccer Tournament Because Her Short Hair Made Her 'Look Like a Boy,'" while CBS News' said, "Girl, 8, booted from soccer tournament for 'looking like a boy.'"
But all of those headlines are either false or misleading. Tournament officials say the reason Milagros "Mili" Hernandez and her team were disqualified had nothing to do with her physical appearance or her hair.
Bill Bianco, a lawyer for the Southern Sarpy Activities Program, which organized the tournament, told the Omaha World-Herald that officials were perfectly aware that Hernandez is not a boy. The reasons for her disqualification had nothing to do with sexism and more to do with bureaucracy.
Officials say a typo on the official roster listed Hernandez as a boy. The official roster is written by the team, which has the responsibility to catch any mistakes before the tournament begins. Listing a boy on a girl's team roster violates tournament rules, according to Bianco, even if it was a mistake.
"Tournament officials are committed to the kids that play and if a team has rostering issues the tournament officials are willing to address the issues prior to the start of the tournament to avoid future confusion," the Sarpy Activities Program said in a statement.
Bianco also said that Hernandez's team broke a second tournament rule by having the same players on multiple teams. None of the stories listed above included this detail.
Hernandez has claimed that she was mistaken for a boy because of her short hair in interviews with local reporters. Hernandez is 8 years old.