Former NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird stands by decisions during turbulent tenure

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During her time as commissioner of the NWSL, she acted appropriately and didn't ignore allegations of improper behavior by former Portland Thorns and North Carolina Courage managers.

In an interview with Lisa Salters for the E60 documentary "Truth Be Told: The Fight for Women's Professional," Baird said that if something was brought to her, she followed it up. On Tuesday, it will be on Disney's network.

She said that she could second-guess herself a lot. I have had time to think about this. There are things I could have done differently. I made the best decisions I could with what I knew at the time.

"Truth Be Told: The Fight for Women's Professional Soccer" is a new show. On the same day as on the other two sports networks.

Several of the league's players disagree with her assessment. The Athletic reported that Riley was accused of sexual harassment by two formerThorns players. Riley was hired by the Courage after he was fired by the Thorns, though the Thorns and the NWSL did not reveal the nature of his firing.

After reading the new allegations in The Athletic, she was shocked and disgusted. San Diego Wave forward Alex Morgan, who was with the Thorns when some of the alleged incidents occurred in 2015, posted a picture of an email exchange between two people. Farrelly tried to get the investigation into Riley reopened. The Thorns didn't follow up on allegations Farrelly shared with them during their investigation into Riley, and he continued to coach in the league with the Courage.

Farrelly was told by Baird that the initial complaint was concluded. "Thank you again for your email and I wish you the best," she said.

An investigation commissioned by U.S. Soccer cast more doubt on the response to player complaints by the coach. The report said that before The Athletic's report last year, she was eager to keep Riley away from other jobs.

The NWSL received a number of complaints about Riley in a short period of time. The NWSL Commissioner was trying to keep Riley from resigning over his anger about the post-season schedule, despite the fact that the League largely ignored the complaints.

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The investigation into player abuse in the National Women's Soccer League was conducted by US Soccer.

The NWSL had a new commissioner in February 2020. The allegations against Riley were made in 2015, but the NWSL's commissioner has not commented publicly. The USSF was in charge of the NWSL at the time. He wouldn't comment on the allegations of abuse in the NWSL. The CEO of USA Curling is also the CEO of the NWSL.

Prior to the publication of The Athletic's article, she was unaware of the specific allegations against Riley.

She said that she had never heard of an allegation of sexual abuse.

Morgan remembers that Baird refused to accept Farrelly's offer to look into her allegations against Riley.

I wanted Lisa to say she's sorry. Morgan said in the E60 documentary that she didn't do enough. That was a lie and she said she was shocked and disgusted.

All of the NWSL's games were put off for the next weekend. "This week, and much of this season, has been incredibly traumatic for our players and staff, and I take full responsibility for the role I have played," he stated. I am so sorry for the pain that many are going through.

He resigned hours later. When asked why she did so, she said that events "unfolded very quickly" after the article was published, and she was in a number of conversations with the NWSL Players Association as well as some players.

"I came to a very painful conclusion based on the reaction and on social media, which was very painful," he said. The thing that I could do was accept institutional responsibility. The crisis would be helped by that. Hearing the players' pain in my conversations influenced my decision.

She said in her statement that she took responsibility. I don't remember what happened in that time. It's difficult to think. I have no idea that that was written. It was written in advance. I can't have clarity.

I was trying to sort it out after my daughter got a threatening message. Around that time, that statement came out. I don't recall it. It's part of the role of the commissioner to take institutional responsibility when you're a commissioner. You don't need to do anything.