The North American Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) announced on Monday it had banned four coaches accused of sexually abusing players for life, a month after submitting their investigative report into violence and abuse committed over several years.
To penalize these “continued wrongdoings”, after 14 months audit verified complaints from NWSL players, also victims of manipulation, bullying and retaliation, as well as the culpable passivity and inaction of a number of clubs’ owners and managers, which the panel chaired by commissioner Jessica Berman imposed a slew of penalties.
The most serious – due to their finality – were inflicted on Paul Riley, Christy Holly, Rory Dames and Richie Burke, all of whom were banned from the NWSL for life.
Riley, a former Portland Thorns coach, has been accused by two players of forcing the first into non-consensual sex and sexually harassing the second. He is the subject of a separate US soccer investigation led by former US Attorney General Sally Yates.
Holly, who managed Racing Louisville, was fired after she was accused of sexual assault and touching a player.
Dames, a former Chicago Red Stars coach, was also scrutinized in the Yates report, which detailed his tendency to verbally attack, insult and threaten players.
Finally, Burke, who was at the forefront of the Washington Spirit, had a habit of verbally stigmatizing player ethnicity.
Former Chicago Red Stars assistant coach Craig Harrington and former Gotham FC general manager Alyse Lahue have been suspended from all NWSL-related duties for two years.
Six other people will have to prove themselves before finding a job in the league. They must “admit their wrongdoing and accept responsibility for inappropriate behavior, attend training, and make a genuine effort to correct their behavior.”
The Chicago Red Stars and Portland Thorns are each facing fines of $1.5 million and $1 million, respectively, for their conduct in these cases, ranging from negligence in view of the acts committed to their desire to commit them hide.
Finally, after finding systematic errors within the players’ union and within the American federation in its joint investigation with the players’ union, the league fined its own office “a minimum of one million dollars” and promised that it would impose one complete overhaul.