Report alleges "systemic abuse" in U.S. women's soccer

The U.S. Soccer Federation released the outcome of the independent investigation it commissioned from former Attorney General Sally Q. Yates into allegations of abuse by several female professional players. After a year long review, the report revealed "a league in which abuse and inappropriate behaviors – verbal and emotional and inappropriate sexual behaviors – had become systemic, encompassing multiple teams, coaches and victims."

Yates denounced that, in spite of everything, "no one in the teams, the League or the Federation demanded better from the coaches," allowing these behaviors to continue. The former prosecutor is very critical of noting that "the defendants went from one team to another, and even to the American Federation, because the teams, the League and the federation did not identify or report the misconduct of the coaches."

"Culture of abuse, silence and fear of retaliation"

The report notes that "the culture of abuse, silence and fear of retaliation perpetuated the misconduct." In this regard, Yates lamented the lack of a safety protocol for female players, which made it even more difficult to report for fear of possible retaliation. In addition, the investigation points out that the players "had been suffering abuse since they were youths," so that by the time they reached the professional level, these behaviors were almost normalized.

The U.S. Soccer opened an investigation following allegations by two former players, Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim, in The Athletic and how they suffered abuse at the hands of their former coach Paul Riley. The coach denied everything, but was promptly fired from his team at the time in North Carolina. In light of the seriousness of the allegations, NWSL Commissioner Lisa Baird resigned shortly thereafter.

Escalation after the first complaint

Although the scandal erupted after this publication, previous cases of abuse had already been reported. Thus, Richie Burke, coach of the Washington Spirit, lost his job after being accused of verbal and emotional abuse. Christy Holly, too, was fired in the face of complaints from female players.

The case continued when NJ/NY Gotham FC, Spirit, NC Courage and Racing Louisville players stopped their respective matches in the sixth minute. In a concerted act, the players linked arms in a circle in the center of the field. It was a league-wide protest of the lack of player protection. "The settling of scores has already begun. We will not be silent. We will be relentless in our pursuit of a league that deserves the players in it," the NWSL Players Association warned in a statement on October 6, 2021.

The players stand up

The protest was supported by the most internationally recognized players, such as Alex Morgan, who uploaded the association's denunciation to their social networks and demanded accountability.

The report, which is more than 300 pages long, included more than 200 interviews with current and former players, coaches, owners and club personnel. The Federation also provided documents, and Yates' firm reviewed 89,000 that were deemed relevant.

In the report's conclusions, Yates gathers that "abuse in the NWSL is rooted in a deeper culture in women's soccer, beginning in youth leagues, that normalizes verbal abuse by coaches and blurs the boundaries between coaches and players."

Reactions

U.S. Soccer stated, upon release of the report, that it "immediately 1) establish a new National Office of Participant Safety, 2) publish soccer records from the SafeSport Centralized Disciplinary Database, and 3) mandate a uniform minimum standard for background checks for all U.S. Soccer members."

The Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the players' association, for their part, indicated that they were reviewing the report. Both entities also confirmed that they are also conducting an investigation.