US Soccer report on NWSL abuse: What you need to know

The full findings of U.S. Soccer’s investigation into the NWSL were released Monday, and they outline a pattern of systemic abuse and failures by league coaches and executives.

Just Women’s Sports summarizes key findings from the 172-page report below.

Christy Holly, former Racing Louisville and Sky Blue FC coach

• Asked to leave Sky Blue FC – since renamed Gotham FC – in the middle of the 2017 season because of his “verbal abuse” and his “relationship with a player.”
  • Publicly, the club said Holly and the team “mutually agreed” to part ways.
• Fired for cause by Racing Louisville in August 2021 after groping a player on multiple occasions.
  • “He requested that she meet him to review game film at his house, and showed her pornography instead, masturbating in front of her before she left.”
  • “In another incident, again under the pretense of watching game film, he touched her genitals and breasts each time she made an errant pass in the video.”
• Read more:
  • Ex-Racing Louisville coach Holly ‘sexually coerced’ player
  • Holly ‘never held the requisite license’ to coach in NWSL
  • Racing Louisville players: Change only came after ‘worst-case scenario’
  • After abuse, Erin Simon wants to make soccer ‘a safe place’
  • Racing Louisville teammate of Simon: ‘I didn’t have a voice’

Paul Riley, former Thorns, Flash and Courage coach

• Coerced at least three players into sexual relationships.
  • Sinead Farrelly “stated that Riley had sex with her on four separate occasions over the course of two years,” starting in 2011 when she was a 21-year-old player for the Philadelphia Independence of the Women’s Professional Soccer league and he was her 46-year-old coach.
• Allegations of Riley’s sexual misconduct were brought to the NWSL and U.S. Soccer every year from 2015-21.
  • “Riley’s sexual misconduct was considered by many to be an ‘open secret.’”
  • In 2014, an anonymous player survey identified Riley as “verbally abusive,” “sexist” and “destructive.”
  • Also in 2014, USWNT players reported to then-U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati and then-USWNT coach Jill Ellis that Riley was abusive.
• Mana Shim filed a complaint of sexual misconduct against Riley in 2015, while both were with the Thorns.
  • The Thorns terminated Riley following an internal investigation but publicly said his contract had not been renewed and thanked him for his time with the team.
  • Riley went on to coach for the Flash and the Courage.
• Gavin Wilkinson, who worked as general manager of the Thorns from 2013-21 and remains general manager of Portland’s MLS club, told the Flash vice president that Riley “was put in a bad position” by a player but that he “would hire him in a heartbeat.”
  • One former Thorns player recalled Wilkinson jokingly saying to her, after she asked him for something, “Why can’t you just stop being a bitch?”
• Thorns owner Merritt Paulson emailed the Flash president to congratulate the team on Riley’s hiring in March 2016.
  • “Best of luck this season and congrats on the Riley hire,” Paulson said in the email. “I have a lot of affection for him.”
  • When pressed by Courage owner Steve Malik in 2017 about the reason for Riley’s departure from the Thorns, Paulson told Malik that Riley “was essentially cleared” by a team investigation. Players had visited Riley’s apartment, Paulson told Malik, but it boiled down to a case of “poor judgment,” and “nothing else was reported.”
• Thorns president of business Mike Golub was also the subject of complaints. He remarked to then-coach Cindy Parlow Cone in 2013: “What’s on your bucket list besides sleeping with me?”
  • Cone reported the incident to Paulson upon her departure from the team seven months later. The owner “told her he wished she had told him about the remark at the time it happened.”
  • Golub has since been accused of creating an “atmosphere of disrespect” towards women within the club.
• Read more:
  • Alex Morgan: Thorns teammate Shim ‘failed by the system’
  • Ex-Thorns GM Wilkinson blamed abuse victim for Riley’s firing
  • Former NWSL commish Lisa Baird denies ignoring Riley abuse allegations
  • Shim, NWSL abuse victims call for removal of complicit owners
  • Thorns owner Paulson recuses himself from club decisions
  • Thorns’ Wilkinson, Golub fired in wake of report
  • Thorns sponsors threaten to pull support without ‘meaningful’ changes
  • Becky Sauerbrunn wants NWSL leaders who ‘failed the players’ to go

Rory Dames, former Red Stars coach and youth club owner

• Created a “sexualized team environment” for his youth club, in which he spoke to players “about foreplay, oral sex and their sex lives.”
  • That environment “crossed the line to sexual relationships in multiple cases, though those relationships may have begun after the age of consent.”
• USWNT players, including Christen Press, reported to Gulati and Ellis in 2014 that Dames created a hostile environment with the Chicago Red Stars.
  • In 2014 and 2015, player surveys reported Dames as “abusive” and “unprofessional.”
  • In 2018, Press formally complained to USSF for a second time, saying Dames “emotionally abused” players.
  • In 2021, a sports psychologist hired by the Red Stars found that 70% of the club’s players reported emotionally abusive behavior.
• Red Stars owner Arnim Whisler was told by players starting in 2014 that Dames was emotionally and verbally abusive.
  • Whisler “declined to accept” Dames’ offer of resignation after Press’ 2014 complaints. Instead, he “accused National Team players of wanting to shut down the league.”
  • “Whisler will tell you he knew nothing, which is a complete lie,” one player said.
• Dames was pushed to resign in 2021, but the Red Stars omitted the allegations of abuse and misconduct in their announcement of his resignation.
  • Dames continues to own his youth club.
• Read more:
  • Red Stars owner Whisler dismissed Dames complaints
  • Press shares message on Instagram days after report
  • Whisler steps aside during NWSL investigation
  • Red Stars’ board ousts Whisler, aims to facilitate sale

U.S. Soccer investigation

• The three clubs at the center of the allegations against Holly, Riley and Dames failed to fully cooperate with the investigation.
  • “The Thorns refused to produce relevant documents for months… causing months of delay and impeding interviews of key witnesses.”
  • Racing Louisville “refused to provide any information” on Holly’s tenure with the team.
  • The Red Stars failed to provide documentation for six months.
• Read more:
  • U.S. Soccer’s NWSL abuse investigation found ‘systemic’ issues
  • Three NWSL clubs hindered U.S. Soccer’s investigation into abuse
  • Ex-NWSL commissioner Jeff Plush under scrutiny over abuse report

U.S. Soccer recommendations

• Recommendations from the report include:
  • Background screenings for all U.S. Soccer members, from the youth level to the professional level.
  • Elimination of the use of nondisclosure and nondisparagement agreements, which “act to shield information about abusive coaches.”
  • Suspension of licenses for coaches found to engage in misconduct – and for members who fail to act on reports of misconduct.
• Read more:
  • Sally Yates addresses findings in U.S. Soccer report
  • NWSL investigation ‘needed to end’ for change to happen