U.S. Soccer Failed To Protect Women’s Players From ‘Systemic’ Abuse And Sexual Misconduct, Report Finds

Topline

Abuse and sexual misconduct within women’s soccer are “systemic” from youth leagues to the highest levels of the game, according to a damning report published Monday after a yearlong independent investigation that was commissioned following widespread allegations against coaches and other league officials.

Key Facts

Investigators led by former acting Attorney General Sally Yates conducted more than 200 interviews with players, coaches, team owners and staff from 11 current and former National Women’s Soccer League teams, and found the league was plagued by a culture of verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct with few protections in place.

Players were subjected to manipulation that was “about power, not improving performance,” according to investigators, who said players described sexual comments, unwanted advances and coercive sexual intercourse, and reported a pattern of retaliation against those who tried to come forward.

Both the league and the U.S. Soccer Federation—the sport’s national governing body— “failed to take any steps to protect players” and did not “institute the most basic of workplace protections,” investigators wrote in the report, adding that both entities “gave little thought or attention to basic player protections.”

The probe also found the organizations and individual teams failed to respond appropriately when allegations and evidence of abuse were brought to their attention, allowing abusive coaches to switch from team to team “laundered by press releases thanking them for their service” and references that minimized or even concealed misconduct.

The report focused on three specific coaches, including Paul Riley, the winningest coach in the league, whose allegations of sexual misconduct went without league or federation action for seven years, according to investigators.

The report also detailed how Chicago Red Stars coach Rory Dames allegedly “created a hostile environment for players” and “verbally abused them during games,” and discussed former Racing Louisville coach Christy Holly, who the report found verbally and emotionally abused and sexually coerced players.

Tangent

While the investigation centered on professional-level soccer, investigators wrote the abuse is “rooted in a deeper culture in women’s soccer” that starts in youth leagues, where verbally abusive coaching is normalized and boundaries between coaches and players are blurred.

Crucial Quote

“The verbal and emotional abuse players describe in the NWSL is not merely ‘tough’ coaching. And the players affected are not shrinking violets. They are among the best athletes in the world,” investigators wrote in the report’s executive summary.

Key Background

The probe into women’s soccer began last year, when the U.S. Soccer Federation hired investigators to look into the sport. That year, nearly half the league’s coaches left their posts in a single season over allegations of misconduct sparked by The Athletic, which published a bombshell report on Riley that outlined allegations he sexually coerced players across multiple teams and leagues. Both the federation and the league pledged Monday to remedy the issues uncovered by the investigation. “I am heartbroken by the contents of the report, which make clear that systemic changes are needed at every level of our game,” U.S. Soccer President Cindy Parlow Cone said in a statement, adding the federation will immediately establish a new safety office, publish disciplinary records from a database run by SafeSport, a nonprofit that tracks allegations of misconduct in sports, and require background checks for all federation members. The federation will also create a task force to address the report’s concerns, she said. The National Women’s Soccer League said in a statement that officials would review the report and “learn from and take responsibility for the painful lessons” to make the league a better place.

Further Reading

National Women’s Soccer League Cancels Upcoming Games Amid Abuse Allegations (Forbes)