US commission presents report: “Entrenched” abuse in women’s football

An independent commission of inquiry has been investigating allegations of abuse in US women’s soccer for more than a year. In the report that has now been published, the committee speaks of a “deep-rooted” phenomenon in the clubs.

An independent commission of inquiry has accused systematic and “entrenched” sexual abuse in the US women’s soccer league. The abuse ranges from verbal abuse to physical violence, has a systematic character and begins in the youth leagues.

For its report, the commission of inquiry had viewed tens of thousands of documents for a year and had hundreds of discussions, especially with numerous players in the North American women’s soccer professional league. The result: On more than 150 pages, the commission lists numerous examples of inappropriate advances as well as emotional and physical abuse by coaches.

Allegations against coaches not disclosed

The report contains drastic individual examples: about a male premier league coach who calls in a player to analyze the game, allegedly wants to go through the video recording of a game with her and then shows her a porn film. Or a premier league coach who is fired from his club for sexually assaulting several players, but immediately finds a job with the competition. His original club did not disclose the allegations in the farewell press release, but wished him all the best for his new task.

“Teams, the league and the federation not only repeatedly failed to respond appropriately when confronted with player complaints and evidence of abuse, they also failed to take basic steps to prevent and address it, although some leaders privately acknowledged the need for protective measures in the workplace,” says the report, verbatim. Nobody ever asked the coaches to “improve”.

Several layoffs and resignations

The scandal became public a good year ago – triggered by allegations by the two former players Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim. They accused their coach on the Carolina Courage team, Paul Riley, of harassment and sexual assault. Riley was subsequently fired.

As a result, it was revealed that the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) had apparently ignored allegations of abuse and swept it under the rug. League boss Lisa Baird has resigned, and five out of ten coaches in the NWSL have either been fired or resigned amid allegations of misconduct.

Association wants to monitor player safety more closely

The President of the US Soccer Association, Cindy Parlow Cone, called the findings of the commission of inquiry “heartbreaking and deeply disturbing” and criticized:

As a first reaction, the US Soccer Association announced that it would set up an office to monitor the safety of players, as well as a central database in which misconduct by suspects would be documented. In addition, minimum standards from the professional down to the youth leagues should apply in the future and be constantly checked.

But even with the publication of the current investigation report, the processing of the subject of abuse in women’s football is far from over.