The New England Revolution have entered crisis mode.
Two days after Bruce Arena resigned as the Revolution’s head coach and sporting director, the team refused to train under interim head coach Richie Williams.
The Athletic reported the news, with ESPN confirming.
Revolution players are seeking answers around the nature of Arena’s departure, which came after MLS said an investigation into “insensitive and inappropriate remarks” corroborated some elements of the allegations against the legendary head coach.
But the exact nature of Arena’s remarks has not been revealed, and The Athletic reported that Williams himself had filed some of the complaints against Arena.
After a series of meetings with club leadership on Tuesday, Revolution players reportedly felt their questions were not answered to their satisfaction. When quizzed on his involvement in the investigation, Williams declined to answer. As a result, the Revs reportedly refused to participate in training.
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Williams confirmed that training had been cancelled but called it a collective decision.
“We didn’t have training today as we had a bunch of meetings between players, coaches and management,” said Williams. “The length of the meetings and what was discussed we decided as a group, collectively, that we wouldn’t have training today and we’d be out tomorrow.”
Ahead of the press conference, a team spokesperson said that Williams would be unable to answer questions about Arena’s resignation, referring media to previous statements by the league, team and Arena himself.
UPDATE: The Revs said later on Tuesday that Clint Peay, head coach of Revolution II, had replaced Williams as interim head coach. The status of Williams was unclear. In addition, assistant coaches Dave van den Bergh and Shalrie Joseph, both of whom had reportedly clashed with Williams, left the club.
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