The Chicago Red Stars have fired general manager Michelle Lomnicki for what the club said was a failure to “share important information with club leadership.”
Lomnicki, a former Red Stars player, was named the club’s associate general manager in January 2022. This January, the Red Stars removed the associate title, giving Lomnicki full control over the team’s roster.
But Lomnicki’s time as Red Stars general manager has come to an end after just four months.
In a statement, the club said that Lomnicki was immediately fired for what it called a “lapse in judgement.”
“Yesterday the Board of the Chicago Red Stars ended Michelle Lomnicki’s employment immediately after learning about a lapse in judgement to not share important information with club leadership,” the statement read.
The Athletic reported that the issue stemmed from the relationship between Lomnicki, her husband Wes Lomnicki, and former Utah Royals head coach Craig Harrington.
Harrington is currently serving a two-year NWSL suspension for inappropriate conduct and sexual comments made to players, but was hired as an independent contractor in January by youth club Chicago Empire FC.
Wes Lomnicki serves as the sporting director for Empire FC, while Michelle Lomnicki was listed as a female technical and performance consultant for the club until early May.
Speaking on a call with reporters on Friday, Red Stars head coach Chris Petrucelli said he was mostly in the dark on the situation.
“I don’t know that there’s much I can share with you,” he said. “The club has provided a statement, and really my goal here was to talk about the match, so I’m hoping we can head in that direction. I found out the way everybody else did.”
A statement from the Chicago Red Stars Board of Managers: pic.twitter.com/gknxR9kJuT
— Chicago Red Stars (@chicagoredstars) May 5, 2023
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