In protest of their NWSL match, members of Gotham FC and Washington Spirit join hands. (1:47).
National Women's Soccer League players joined in solidarity Wednesday night as play resumed following allegations against a former coach.
In recognition of the six-year period that it took for Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim to bring to light the sexual harassment and sexual coercion allegations against Paul Riley, the teams stopped play at the sixth minute.
They joined hands in a circle to watch games between Gotham FC in Philadelphia and Washington Spirit in Philadelphia, and between Racing Louisville in Cary (North Carolina) and North Carolina Courage.
In a social media statement, the players stated that the protest was in support of players who "fought for too long not to be heard". Fans were asked to remain silent in support of the players by the announcement. "We ask you to share your pain and discomfort during that time as we reflect on what many of us have been asked too often to sit with."
In recent months, the NWSL has been rocked by several firings and resignations relating to sexual coercion and harassment. The NC Courage fired Riley last week following allegations that he had engaged in harassment and sexual coercion of Farrelly and Shim during his time at the Portland Thorns. In 2015, the Thorns initiated an investigation into Riley. Riley's contract was terminated, but he was allowed to apply for employment at the NWSL side Western NY Flash. This later became the NC Courage.
Murray: The scandal surrounding Riley in the NWSL points to bigger league failures
The Portland Thorns announced Wednesday night that Gavin Wilkinson, general manager and president of the Portland Timbers, was placed on administrative leave "pending results of an outside independent investigation" following the allegations against Riley. ESPN has confirmed that Wilkinson was not suspended from his duties of general manager and president for the Portland Timbers.
After resuming games last weekend, the league was just about to return to the field as it dealt with allegations against Riley, former Courage coach. Riley was later fired.
As it relates to the NWSLPA's independent investigation into what happened, the NWSLPA made the following demands:
Every coach, general manager, representative on the Board of Governors and owner must consent to the Players Association's independent investigation into their abusive conduct. They can notify Meghann Burke, Executive Director, of their agreement to comply with this demand by Wednesday October 13th 2021.
- The NWSL's investigation, which was announced Sunday night, October 4, 2021 should be extended to include an investigation of each of twelve NWSL Clubs that are represented on the Board of Governors. This will determine if any abuse has occurred at any time, known or not.
- It is recommended that the scope of investigation by NWSL be extended to include any League Office staff, NWSL Club or other person holding a position of power within NWSL.
The Courage owner had earlier apologized for his failure to create an environment that allowed players to feel safe.
Steve Malik, Courage's owner, made the statement in an open letter. This was the first time Riley had been publicly commented since Thursday's announcement. These allegations rocked league, leading to Lisa Baird's resignation as commissioner of NWSL.
Malik stated in his letter that Courage had "conducted due diligence" to retain Riley and the coaching staff following Malik's purchase of the team in 2017.
Malik wrote that "We were informed of an investigation into Mr. Riley’s conduct in 2015 and were later assured that he is in good standing." "We had no knowledge that Mr. Riley was being sexually harassed or coerced during his time at the Courage. We took the horrendous allegations made in last week’s report seriously and terminated Mr. Riley."
Farrelly and Shim, former NWSL players, came forward with allegations of abuse, including coercion sexually, that date back over a decade. The Athletic published details of the allegations last week.
Riley denied any inappropriate behavior.
Riley's dismissal was the latest controversy involving the NWSL, America's top professional women's soccer league.
Richie Burke, Washington Spirit coach, was fired last week after violating the NWSL's Anti-harassment Policy detailed in The Washington Post.
Farid Benstiti, OL Reign's coach, was fired in July following inappropriate comments made during practice. Racing Louisville coach Christy Holly was fired last week for reasons that were not made public. Gotham FC general manager Alyse LeHue was also dismissed because she violated the league's antiharassment policy. The allegations have been denied by her.
FIFA and U.S. Soccer have launched investigations into how FIFA and U.S. Soccer handled the Riley case.
This story used information from The Associated Press.
