An investigation led by former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates found widespread verbal and sexual abuse in U.S. women’s soccer.
An independent report released on Monday detailed extensive evidence of mistreatment in U.S. women’s soccer, including numerous instances of verbal and sexual abuse.
The investigation behind the report was commissioned by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) and was carried out under the leadership of former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. As the report notes in its introduction, the investigation revealed widespread abuses in both the USSF and the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
“Our investigation has revealed a league in which abuse and misconduct—verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct—had become systemic, spanning multiple teams, coaches, and victims,” the introduction said. “Abuse in the NWSL is rooted in a deeper culture in women’s soccer, beginning in youth leagues, that normalizes verbally abusive coaching and blurs boundaries between coaches and players. The verbal and emotional abuse players describe in the NWSL is not merely ‘tough’ coaching. And the players affected are not shrinking violets. They are among the best athletes in the world.”
Riley was also accused of severe and demoralizing verbal abuse as a coach.
