The latest report into allegations of abuse in American women’s soccer was published on Tuesday by the National Women’s Soccer League and the NWSL Players’ Association.
This one is the result of a joint investigation by the league, the union, and law firms each entity hired that started October of last year, after The Athletic published detailed allegations against former Philadelphia Independence, Portland Thorns and North Carolina Courage manager Paul Riley.
The new report claimed it studied “all reports of inappropriate conduct” toward players in the league since its launch in 2012. The investigators said they conducted over 200 interviews and reviewed some 200,000 documents.
In a news conference after the report’s release, NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman said that neither she nor NWSLPA executive director Meghann Burke had prior approval of the report before it was published. Many players, team and league staff, and team owners were not given the completed report before it was made public.
“We have the benefit of what I hope is a cultural awakening around privilege and a cultural awakening around people trying to understand someone else’s perspective,” Berman said.
“This week has felt a bit like an unloading or a purging of all of these stories that have been collected over time,” Burke said.
» READ MORE: Ex-Philadelphia Independence coach Paul Riley fired from NWSL team amid allegations of sexual misconduct
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