Investigation reveals ´systemic abuse´ in US women´s professional soccer

An impartial investigation has discovered “systemic abuse and misconduct” inside ladies’s professional soccer in the United States.

U.S. Soccer on Monday launched the findings of the year-long investigation, led by former Deputy Attorney General Sally Q. Yates, after over 200 interviews had taken place.

The report acknowledged that over the practically 10-year historical past of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), “numerous coaches have verbally or emotionally abused players”.

It additionally discovered that “several are alleged to have committed serious sexual misconduct during and/or before their time in the League”.

The report acknowledged: “Our investigation has revealed a league in which abuse and misconduct – verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct – had turn out to be systemic, spanning a number of groups, coaches, and victims.

“Abuse in the NWSL is rooted in a deeper culture in women’s soccer, beginning in youth leagues, that normalises verbally abusive coaching and blurs boundaries between coaches and players.”

It additionally concluded: “Teams, the League, and the [U.S. Soccer] Federation not only repeatedly failed to respond appropriately when confronted with player reports and evidence of abuse, they also failed to institute basic measures to prevent and address it, even as some leaders privately acknowledged the need for workplace protections.”

U.S. Soccer has vowed to “act to thoroughly address the report’s recommendations”.

Among the motion the governing physique will take in response to the report is to launch a brand new player-driven participant security taskforce, which can convene leaders in any respect ranges of the game to “ensure a safe and respectful playing environment for all athletes”.

U.S. Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone mentioned: “As a former participant, as a coach, because the president of soccer’s nationwide governing physique, I’m heartbroken by the contents of the report, which clarify that systemic adjustments are wanted at each stage of our recreation.

“The abuse described in the report is totally inexcusable and has no place in soccer, on or off the sector. Along with everybody at U.S. Soccer, I’m squarely centered on the adjustments we are going to make to deal with the report’s findings and make soccer safer for everybody. It will take all of U.S. Soccer’s membership working collectively to create the sort of change wanted to make sure our athletes are protected.

“The gravity of these issues requires us to not simply ‘turn the page’. We can and must use this moment as a forcing function for forward progress. Since I became president of U.S. Soccer in 2020, my priority above all else has been to ensure that athletes across the country have a safe and respectful place to play, work, learn, grow and compete.”