National Women’s Soccer League reaches $5 million settlement over 2021 abuse scandal

Three years after revelations about sexual coercion, racism and other abuse roiled the National Women’s Soccer League, prosecutors on Wednesday announced a settlement with the league to establish a $5 million victims’ fund and implement other reforms.

In 2021, allegations began to burst into the public about years of abuse suffered by players at the hands of coaches that ranged from sexual coercion, unwanted touching and other sexual advances, to emotional abuse and intimidation. And for years, the league allowed officials it knew had been accused of misconduct to find employment with new teams.

Ultimately, an independent investigation, commissioned by U.S. Soccer and led by a former deputy U.S. attorney general, concluded that abuse and sexual misconduct were systemic across the league.

Afterward, in 2022, attorneys general from New York, Illinois and the District of Columbia opened their own criminal investigation — a query that came to a close with Wednesday’s settlement announcement.

“For too long, the hardworking and talented women of the National Women’s Soccer League were forced to endure an unacceptable culture of abuse, harassment, and retaliation,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James. “This settlement sends a clear message that such misconduct will not be tolerated and ensures players receive the compensation and protections they deserve.”

“There were so few protocols in place to vet coaches and protect players that coaches who had been removed from abusing players on one team would quickly find a new home in another city with a different club — then, predictably, the same abusive and unlawful behavior would start again,” said D.C. attorney general Brian Schwalb at a press conference Wednesday morning.

The dam broke in 2021 when two players, Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim, went public with accounts of sexual misconduct by Paul Riley while he was their head coach. A third player later made her own accusations about Riley to independent investigators.

Riley, players said, had regularly subjected players to unwanted sexual advances, expressed inappropriate interest in their personal romantic relationships and had once urged two players to kiss each other or else face difficult training exercises. The Athletic was the first to publish the allegations. Riley has denied many of the accusations. The Portland Thorns fired Riley in 2015 after complaints by players, but he was later rehired by the North Carolina Courage.

Other NWSL coaches were accused of emotional abuse, such as monitoring players’ weight and attacking players verbally. In the investigations that followed, players testified that they had avoided raising concerns out of fear that coaches would retaliate by limiting their playing time or discouraging a prestigious call-up to the U.S. women’s national team.

Much of the fallout and reform from the scandal had already taken place before Wednesday.

The league’s then-top executive resigned in 2021. Four coaches, including Riley, were later banned permanently, and two other high-ranking team officials were suspended for two years. The Portland Thorns, the team at the center of the sexual coercion allegations, changed ownership in 2022. Ahead of the 2023 season, the league implemented an anti-fraternization policy.

“We remain grateful to the many brave individuals who came forward to share their experiences, which has informed our approach to systemic reform,” said NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman, who started in 2022 after the scandal led to the resignation of her predecessor. “We will continue to do the work necessary to maintain the trust of our players and build an ecosystem where the best in the world want to come.”

In addition to the $5 million restitution fund, Wednesday’s settlement requires the NWSL to implement a variety of reforms designed to prevent future abuse.

Among them, the league agreed to create new channels for players to confidentially report abuse. Teams will be required to employ human resources personnel and mental health professionals. And the league will conduct anonymous surveys of its players and report the findings back to prosecutors every six months over the next three years.