North Carolina Courage head coach Paul Riley was fired Thursday following the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association calls into an investigation that Riley made inappropriate comments toward players spanning over a decade.
Posted September 30,2021 10:06 a.m. EDT Updated October 1,2021 7:12 p.m. EDT All National Women’s Soccer League matches scheduled for this weekend, including Friday night’s NC Courage game, are canceled amid a sexual misconduct scandal involving North Carolina Courage head coach Paul Riley. The home match against Washington Spirit for Friday night at WakeMed Soccer Park will no longer take place, the league said. The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) opened an investigation into the scandal on Friday. Riley was fired Thursday following the National Women’s Soccer League Players Association’s calls into an investigation that Riley made inappropriate comments toward players spanning over a decade. «The North Carolina Football Club is united together in our commitment to creating a safe, positive and respectful environment, only within our club but across the league and our great sport,» the club wrote in a statement. On Friday, the league announced it would not play this weekend after the players union demanded that the «systemic abuse plaguing the NWSL must not be ignored.» An investigative report from The Athletic talked to more than a dozen players from teams Riley coached since 2010. According to the report, there were allegations of sexual coercion and inappropriate comments about players’ weight and sexual orientation.
