Players and former soccer players in the US united this Monday to demand measures and a radical change in their sport after a report was released that indicates systematic abuse towards them and for years in the Women’s Professional Soccer League ( NWSL).
“While this report is difficult to read, it has been even more painful for the players, known or not, who lived through it,” the NWSL players’ union (NWSLPA) said in a statement.
“We appreciate the efforts to seek the truth and for supporting our work to transform the NWSL,” the union added, asking that the NWSL focus from now on being a league that prioritizes “the safety of its players.”
For its part, the US National Team Players Association (USWNT Players) also defended in a press release that all soccer players “deserve to work in an environment free of discrimination, harassment and abusive conduct.”
“We urge the United States Federation (USSF) to implement the recommendations (of the report) immediately,” they added.
The NWSL appeared to pick up the gauntlet, saying they must “learn and take responsibility for the painful lessons of the past to lead the league into a better future.”
In this sense, the NWSL spoke of “implementing systemic reform” in its competition to ensure that the league is a place “where players are supported, on and off the field, with safe and professional environments to train and compete.”
Apart from collective reactions, some players took the floor individually.
“I think when serious accusations come to you and you ignore us… you shouldn’t have anything to do with this sport anymore. Spot. No damage control – just damage,” Angel City forward Sydney Leroux tweeted.
In addition, former players Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim and soccer player Erin Simon called for “action, accountability and change” in a joint statement to the NWSL.
THE KEYS TO THE REPORT
The American Women’s Professional Soccer League is the scene of systematic abuse at all levels towards its players and its highest authorities have repeatedly ignored the accusations in this regard, according to the report published this Monday and commissioned by the USSF.
Independent research by law firm King & Spalding paints a picture in which verbal and emotional abuse of female footballers and inappropriate sexual behavior exceed the limits of “hard” training and are common from junior to senior levels.
In the nearly 200 interviews with retired and active players, coaches, club owners or staff, manipulative tactics that were more about abuse of power than game improvement and a worrying pattern of comments with sexual content were exposed. , unwanted touching or coercive sexual relations.
The teams, the League and the Federation “not only failed systematically when it came to responding adequately when confronted with complaints from the players and signs of abuse, but also when it came to establishing measures to prevent and deal with it,” emphasizes that 36 page document.
As a result of this lack of vigilance, coaches responsible for these abuses moved from team to team without anyone stopping their contracts, whitewashed by press releases in which the clubs thanked them for the services provided.
The document focuses on three coaches -Paul Riley, Rory Dames and Christy Holly- to illustrate the seriousness of the phenomenon, but recalls that last season half of the ten teams in the League parted ways with their coaches after complaints from the players.
De Dames, for example, his players in the junior Chicago Eclipse Select recall that he called them “whores”, “retards” or “fat ass” and that “on multiple occasions he crossed the line of sexual relations”.
Once at the Chicago Red Stars, within the league, he created a hostile environment with verbal abuse during games, the report says.
Among the recommendations to correct this situation are calls for greater transparency and accountability, clear regulations that define inappropriate behavior and make it easier for players to channel their concerns.
