What’s Next for the NWSL After the Latest Investigation?

The NWSL and NWSLPA’s joint investigation further detailed ‘widespread misconduct’ throughout the league.

The National Women’s Soccer League and its players’ association released a 125-page report Wednesday presenting their 14-month joint investigation into leaguewide misconduct. Prepared by Covington & Burling (hired by the NWSL as an independent investigator) and Weil, Gotshal & Manges (counsel for the NWSLPA), the report details “widespread misconduct directed at NWSL players,” asserting that “the underlying culture of the NWSL created fertile ground for misconduct to go unreported.”

Wednesday’s memo laid out the joint investigation’s findings, which implicate numerous coaches, eight of the league’s 12 clubs and U.S. Soccer, as well as recommendations for the NWSL moving forward.

What’s next for the league? Here’s everything you need to know about the report, its revelations and recommendations in considering where the NWSL will go from here.

How the investigation started

The NWSL endured a league-altering reckoning in 2021 following The Athletic’s reporting on misconduct by then–North Carolina Courage coach Paul Riley. Former players Mana Shim and Sinead Farrelly went on record in a story published that September, detailing instances of sexual coercion as well as other forms of wrongdoing. The Athletic’s exposé followed an August story from the Washington Post that exposed claims of abuse leveled at former Spirit coach Richie Burke.

In response, in early October 2021, U.S. Soccer and the NWSL announced independent investigations into abusive behavior as players returned to the pitch following a brief hiatus with new demands for greater workplace protections. Later that month, the NWSL and NWSLPA agreed to join forces in an investigation into systemic issues plaguing the league. U.S. Soccer’s investigation, spearheaded by former U.S. Attorney General Sally Q. Yates, remained independent from the NWSL and NWSLPA’s inquiry. Released in October 2022, Yates’s report highlighted “systemic” abuse found in her yearlong investigation.

The investigation

The NWSL and NWSLPA’s investigative team reached out to approximately 780 current and former athletes and all 12 of the league’s clubs, conducting 100 interviews of current and former NWSL players and approximately 90 interviews of current and former club staff. League leaders as well as current and former U.S. Soccer officials and staff were also part of the investigation, which was run by an oversight committee made up of two representatives from the NWSLPA (union executive director Meghann Burke and WNBPA executive director Terri Jackson), two representatives from the NWSL (league commissioner Jessica Berman and general counsel and chief people officer, Goop, Inc., and former general counsel, NewYork Red Bulls Djenaba Parker) and one independent member (former U.S. District Judge Barbara S. Jones).

Key findings

The joint investigation’s findings echoed claims made by Shim and Farrelly and evidence presented in U.S.Soccer’s report about Riley’s tenure with the Thorns. Portland leadership had knowledge of complaints against Riley, including about sexual harassment and verbal abuse, and opened an internal investigation lacking scope, per the joint investigation.

Riley’s misconduct continued during his time with the North Carolina Courage, which he joined in 2017 after being fired by the Thorns. Kaleigh Kurtz detailed sexual and weight-shaming comments directed at her by Riley in the NWSL and NWSLPA investigation. “The Courage were aware when they executed an employment contract with Riley … that an investigation into Riley showed he exhibited ‘poor judgment,’” the report read. “This information suggested that Riley might pose a danger to players, but the Courage did not take adequate steps to learn the findings of the investigation, reflecting a lack of appreciation for the power dynamics between players and coaches, and the Courage employed Riley despite knowing of this allegation.”

The report also concentrated on former Chicago Red Stars coach Rory Dames and former Racing Louisville FC coach Christy Holly, who were also the center of the Yates investigation. Holly was the focus of harassment claims made during his tenure with Sky Blue FC (since rebranded as New Jersey/New York Gotham FC), as well as his time with Racing Louisville. From 2019 to ‘21, “Holly engaged in repeated sexual misconduct and abuse targeting Erin Simon,” per the joint investigation. While Racing Louisville fired Holly after finding out about his sexual misconduct, the club did not adequately vet the coach at the outset of his tenure, nor did Racing Louisville issue a detailed enough reason for his termination to the public.

Dames was found to have “engaged in both verbal and emotional abuse and made racially insensitive and sexist comments to players” throughout his near decade in Chicago. Red Stars owner Arnim Whisler “minimized and dismissed players’ concerns” regarding Dames and “entered into a confidential separation agreement with Dames” on the eve of The Washington Post’s story that unearthed Dames’s misconduct. According to the report, “The agreement provided Dames with an additional five weeks of pay, and prohibited Dames and the Red Stars from disparaging the other or disclosing to anyone the existence and content of the agreement, with no exception for cooperation with the ongoing investigations.”

The joint investigation provided new information into former Gotham general manager Alyse LaHue’s firing, stating that she made “unwanted sexual advances toward a player.” The club’s official statement on LaHue’s July 2021 firing read: “On July 9th, ownership informed Ms. LaHue that she is no longer employed by NJ/NY Gotham FC based on the results of a league investigation into a complaint of violation of League policy.”

Revelations regarding the Kansas City Current’s handling of claims against former coach Huw Williams were also addressed. Players say the front office wasn't responsive enough to their concerns and that they were worried about potential retaliation, while co-owner Angie Long told the joint investigation she didn't recall issues around Williams’s interactions with players.

Former Orlando Pride head coach Amanda Cromwell and assistant coach Sam Greene were found to have “engaged in retaliatory conduct toward players they believed to have participated in a March 2022 investigation into reports of Cromwell’s inappropriate verbal conduct towards players and Cromwell and Greene’s display of inappropriate favoritism toward certain players.” Per the investigation, Cromwell looked to waive or trade players participating in the inquiry into her behavior.

The report also details abusive language used by outgoing Houston Dash coach James Clarkson; racist, verbal and emotional abuse by former Spirit coach Richie Burke; inappropriate discussion about weight and diet by former OL Reign coach Farid Benstiti (as previously made public by player Lindsey Horan); sexual and harassing comments made by former Red Stars assistant coach Craig Harrington; and weight-shaming by former Dash coach (and current manager for Ireland’s national team) Vera Pauw.

U.S. Soccer’s negligence

General counsel Lisa Levine, chief legal officer Lydia Wahlke, president Sunil Gulati and CEO Dan Flynn, among other U.S. Soccer officials, were directly implicated in the joint investigation. The report reads: “U.S. Soccer, as governing body and NWSL manager, failed to ban coaches and staff who resigned or were fired because of misconduct, or to apprise the League and club owners of such misconduct, which allowed these individuals to move to other clubs within the NWSL.” Specifically highlighted is U.S. Soccer’s handling of claims against Riley and Dames, which the body was made aware of as early as 2014.

Recommendations

The NWSL and NWSLPA’s joint report provided 39 recommendations at the end. The specific proposals fell under six headings: bolstering antiharassment policies, providing more precise guidelines regarding interactions between staff and players, conducting trainings, improving hiring practices, enhancing reporting and investigative capabilities, and prioritizing DEI initiatives.

What’s next

A through line in the report is a breakdown in coordination among U.S. Soccer, the NWSL and clubs when handling misconduct. “The lack of clearly established responsibilities allowed individuals within these institutions to disclaim personal responsibility for player protection and to turn a blind eye or shift blame to other individuals and entities, while players were left exposed to further misconduct and unsafe environments,” the report read. The absence of accountability and responsibility that is glaring throughout the report will surely be a sticking point moving forward in cultivating and enforcing a reporting plan.

Specific individual punishments were not laid out in Wednesday’s memo but could be enacted by league commissioner Jessica Berman at a later date. Thorns owner Merritt Paulson and Chicago Red Stars owner Arnim Whisler announced in December that they would sell their respective teams in response to findings presented in Yates’s report. The Current also said through a spokesperson Wednesday that Wiliams, who transitioned to a front-office role in Kansas City, is no longer employed by the club and has not been with the team since November. The Dash announced that they would not renew Clarkson’s contract with the club following the release of the joint investigation’s findings.

Several sticky topics still need to be hashed out and more clearly outlined in league policy, including admissible interactions between staff and players, acceptable language in coaching and transparency in personnel decisions. The players having a seat at the table, which they will likely continue to hold under the new collective bargaining agreement, will also be essential to the league’s health and sustainability.

The players association released a statement Wednesday, thanking the NWSL, writing, “To forge a new and better path forward to recreate our League, this needed to be done together.”