NWSL Players Deserve Better

A bombshell dropped yesterday when Meg Linehan and Katie Strang’s article in The Athletic was published. The article detailed a pattern of abusive behavior displayed by former North Carolina Courage coach Paul Riley. Retired player Sinead Farrelly spoke about feeling “coerced into having sex” with Riley. Farrelly’s Portland teammate Mana Shim alleges Riley tried to force the two teammates to kiss each other in front of him after a night of drinking. Shim filed a complaint six years ago in 2015 about Riley. He was rehired by the New York Flash just months after the complaint was filed. Speaking with dozens of athletes who played under Riley in the article, it was clear these were not isolated incidents.

NWSL Commissioner Lisa Baird knew about the allegations well before the article came out, but chose to not remove Riley. He was immediately let go after the article became public which is truly a slap in the face. Why do things have to be in the public sphere for the right actions to be taken? Why does it take public outrage for women to be believed?

Riley is the third coach to be fired just this season for misconduct. Former Spirit coach Richie Burke was fired THIS WEEK while former Racing Louisville coach Christy Holly was fired in September. Over the summer, former OL Reign coach Farid Benstiti submitted his resignation. There were formal complaints made against Benstiti that he made inappropriate comments to players including about their weight.

Burke had been suspended since August after players accused him of abuse. Kaiya McCullough accused Burke of threatening, insulting, and making racially insensitive remarks to her and her teammates. She described a culture built around fear. She left team after dealing with verbal and emotional abuse from Burke. Three other players also left the team alleging the same mistreatment.

If only somehow the Reign could have known prior to hiring Benstiti. Oh wait, U.S. Women’s National Team star Lindsey Horan went on a podcast and spoke about the coach speaking derogatorily about her while playing under him on Paris Saint-Germain. The team said they were unaware of Horan’s comments before hiring Benstiti.

This league has so much potential especially with the exponential growth in recent years, but not with coaches creating toxic work environments. No one should be allowed to violate players who make the league so special. The league cannot grow if the commissioner is willing to look the other way when players are speaking out about wrongdoings. This isn’t just an issue within the National Women’s Soccer League. This speaks to a much bigger problem in society in which harassment and verbal abuse are just swept under the rug.

Some of the biggest names in the soccer community took to social media to stand with the players.

One of the biggest problems with the NWSL is the league just implemented an anti-harassment policy earlier this year. There are teams that just began putting human resource departments into place. These measures will hopefully protect players in the future, but the NWSL could have just believed its players when they reported the incidents initially. Players shouldn’t fear losing their job simply for reporting wrongdoing. Leagues cannot protect coaches, owners, or anyone that mistreats players.

Believe women.

Since The Athletic’s story publication the league has paused all games this weekend. Commissioner Baird released this statement about the decision,