Tag: Paul Riley

Following Yates investigation, USA Curling board backs former NWSL commissioner Jeff Plush

Amid calls for Plush’s resignation, USA Curling is sticking with the former NWSL commissioner

The aftermath of the Sally Yates investigation into NWSL misconduct has reached beyond the pitch, and onto the ice.

USA Curling released a statement Thursday affirming that it will keep former NWSL commissioner Jeff Plush on as its CEO.

“The USA Curling Board of Directors called a special session and immediately commissioned an investigation of the information contained in the Yates report regarding USA Curling CEO Jeff Plush’s actions during his time as NWSL Commissioner,” read the statement from USA Curling’s Board of Directors.

“After reviewing the results of this investigation, the USA Curling Board of Directors is confident in Jeff’s ability to continue as an effective leader of the organization. The findings in this investigation, Jeff’s candor during interviews with the Board, and his actions during his time as USA Curling CEO reassured the Board about his strong commitment to upholding the very highest standards for athlete well-being. Additionally, the Board is encouraged by Jeff’s willingness to fully cooperate in the ongoing NWSL and its Players Association investigation.”

Plush did not respond to investigators

Plush, whose tenure with the NWSL ran from 2014 to 2017, has been the subject of calls to resign after the Yates investigation. Several of the major complaints that went ignored happened during Plush’s time as commissioner, and the report specifically said that he “never responded to (the investigation’s) outreach.”

Per the investigation’s findings, Plush did seem to facilitate some level of information sharing between the NWSL, its clubs, and U.S. Soccer. However, according to the report, Plush — despite Mana Shim emailing him directly with her allegations against Paul Riley — did not take action to prevent the Western NY Flash from hiring Riley after he had been fired for cause by the Portland Thorns. Riley would remain in the league, coaching the Flash and North Carolina Courage, until 2021.

Courage owner Stephen Malik told investigators that when he asked Plush about Riley’s departure from Portland, “Plush either demurred that he would look into it or declined to share,” citing legal confidentiality as a reason for the inaction.

Plush was also said to have received a survey in which players said former Chicago Red Stars coach Rory Dames had created an abusive work environment. Though Plush emailed officials at U.S. Soccer to call the survey “disturbing,” no action was taken against Dames or the Red Stars while Plush was with the league.

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Merritt Paulson temporarily steps away from Portland Thorns decision-making duties

Paulson, Gavin Wilkinson, and Mike Golub are, for now, no longer making Thorns decisions

One day after the deeply troubling revelations in the Sally Yates investigation into abuse and misconduct in the NWSL, Portland Thorns owner Merritt Paulson has temporarily stepped aside from decision-making duties at the club.

In a statement released Tuesday on social media and on the club site, Paulson said that until findings from the joint NWSL/NWSL Players Association investigation are released, he — along with president of soccer Gavin Wilkinson and the club’s president of business operations Mike Golub — will relinquish active control.

“I have told the NWSL that I will be removing myself effective today from all Thorns-related decision making until the joint investigation, which we are fully cooperating with, is released,” read the statement, which was authored by Paulson. “Gavin Wilkinson and Mike Golub will do the same. All Thorns related decisions until that time that any of us would have made will now be handled by Heather Davis, our General Counsel.”

While the Yates report revealed deep-rooted abuse and malfeasance at multiple clubs, its revelations about the Thorns undercut claims that the club had done all that it could in discussing Paul Riley, who had been fired by the Thorns after a complaint from Mana Shim about sexual coercion and retaliatory conduct, with the Western New York Flash.

Riley was fired by Portland following the 2015 season, but the announcement of that move positioned the choice as being mutual and included well-wishes for Riley on Portland’s behalf.

The Flash would go on to hire Riley in 2016, and he would remain in charge of the club when they relocated and became the North Carolina Courage. Riley was only terminated in 2021, after a report in The Athletic detailed years of misconduct.

Portland accused of not cooperating

In particular, the report says that Portland supplied the Flash with a glowing recommendation for Riley, including a comment to “get him if (the Flash) could,” and statements indicating that Wilkinson held Shim responsible for Portland having to dismiss Riley.

The Yates report also hammered Portland for impeding the investigation, citing an open letter Paulson wrote that promised transparency before detailing multiple instances in which investigators felt stymied by the Thorns as an organization.

“The Thorns’ lack of cooperation delayed our investigation,” said the Yates report, detailing a refusal to hand over documents, “specious arguments,” and attempts to either discourage witnesses from speaking to investigators, including the outright refusal of Golub to submit to an interview as issues it ran into while trying to look into the issues in Portland.

Wilkinson was for a time placed on administrative leave, but Thorns players said they “recognized (his) reinstatement” in January 2022, and his role as the club’s president of soccer means that Thorns GM Karina LeBlanc ultimately reports to him. In August, details from an investigation by the law firm DLA Piper said that they found no wrongdoing on Wilkinson’s behalf, though crucially, the law firm’s interview process did not include Shim or another witness.

Paulson and Wilkinson have long been the subject of consistent protests at Thorns and Portland Timbers matches, with banners and chants calling for Paulson to sell and for Wilkinson to be fired. Most recently, 107ist — the umbrella organization for both clubs’ supporters groups — posted a statement on Tuesday demanding that Paulson sell both teams, and that both Wilkinson and Golub be dismissed from their roles.

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Sauerbrunn says owners and execs who failed players ‘need to be gone’

Sauerbrunn did not shy away from calling out her own team’s ownership

Becky Sauerbrunn did not mince words when speaking to the media one day after the release of the Yates report.

“The players are not doing well,” the Portland Thorns and U.S. national team stalwart said on Tuesday. “We are horrified and heartbroken and frustrated and exhausted and really, really angry.”

The report by former U.S. Attorney General Sally Yates detailed “systemic” verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct within the NWSL, as well as numerous authority figures who did not do enough to root out abusive coaches.

Among those figures were the owner and several executives within Sauerbrunn’s own team, the Portland Thorns. The Yates report details, among other ugly revelations, that only months after the Thorns fired their coach Paul Riley following an investigation into alleged sexual harassment, they recommended him for a new job.

The uproar over those revelations led Thorns owner Merritt Paulson, Timbers President of Soccer/GM Gavin Wilkinson (who doesn’t have a role with the Thorns anymore) and Thorns President of Business Mike Golub to temporarily step away from the Thorns on Tuesday.

That likely won’t satisfy many and it appears Sauerbrunn is among that group.

“It’s my opinion that every owner and executive and U.S. Soccer official who has repeatedly failed the players and failed to protect the players, who have hidden behind legalities and have not participated fully in these investigations should be gone,” Sauerbrunn said.

Sauerbrunn on Thorns ownership

Sauerbrunn was later asked to clarify whether she included Thorns ownership and executives in her demand for accountability.

“It includes everyone that has continued to fail the players time and time again, who didn’t take concerns seriously, who didn’t pass on information correctly, who have not participated in investigations — all of them,” she said.

“If people continue to fail the players, and they don’t comply with anything that gets asked of them or gets implemented because of these reports, then they need to be gone gone.”

Thorns ownership has been under fire for some time, with Sauerbrunn’s USWNT teammate Alex Morgan calling the team out last month after a report saying Paulson tried to prevent Riley from getting the USWNT head coaching job in 2019 in order to conceal the reason behind his departure from the Thorns.

Sauerbrunn concluded with her most pointed criticism of her own club’s leadership, calling their actions “abhorrent.”

“All I know is that the team that I play with and the staff, the technical staff and the medical staff — those people are good people,” the defender said.

“But the things that have happened above them in the front office as owners are abhorrent and it cannot continue. The fact that people were abused because things weren’t done well and right is inexcusable.”

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Yates report: Thorns recommended Paul Riley for new job after firing him for sexual misconduct

Thorns GM Gavin Wilkinson allegedly said he’d hire Riley “in a heartbeat”

Just months after the Portland Thorns fired Paul Riley following an investigation into alleged sexual harassment, they recommended him for a new job.

That is according to the investigation by Sally Yates into allegations of abusive behavior and sexual misconduct in women’s soccer that was released on Monday.

Riley was fired by the Thorns in 2015, but the reason for his termination was not revealed publicly. Within months he was coaching in the NWSL again with the Western New York Flash, which would eventually move and become the North Carolina Courage.

The allegations against Riley did not become public until 2021, when The Athletic published a story including on-record allegations of sexual harassment from Mana Shim, as well as accusations of sexual harassment and sexual coercion from another player, Sinead Farrelly.

Only then was Riley fired by the Courage, more than five years after he was hired.

Wilkinson would ‘hire [Riley] in a heartbeat’

The Yates report details an email from NWSL Commissioner Jeff Plush to U.S. Soccer CEO Dan Flynn, U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati, and NWSL General Counsel Lisa Levine while Riley was in the process of being hired by the Flash in early 2016.

First, Plush tells the trio “Western New York will announce Paul Riley as head coach on Friday. Not good news,” indicating that the entire group was aware of the possible consequences of Riley getting another NWSL job.

Plush then relays his “guess” that Thorns General Manager Gavin Wilkinson likely “helped” get Riley hired.

Plush adds that Wilkinson believed it was at least partially a player’s fault that Riley was let go, and that he would recommend the coach “in a heartbeat” for another job.

The excerpt reads:

In an email to Gulati, Flynn, and Levine, Plush conveyed his understanding that Gavin Wilkinson (Thorns General Manager) told the Flash that Riley was “put in a bad position by the player,” and that Wilkinson would “hire [Riley] in a heartbeat.” Although Plush, Gulati, Flynn, and Levine all had received Shim’s detailed complaint—and Plush and Levine received the 2015 Thorns Report—none appeared to provide the Flash with additional information.

The report also states the Flash received “positive recommendations from the Thorns” over Riley and were told to hire him if they could. The Flash added that Wilkinson said the investigation that led to Riley’s firing in Portland “resulted in no findings of wrong doing [sic].”

During the hiring process, the Flash sought and received information and positive recommendations from the Thorns regarding Riley. WNY Flash’s Vice President Aaran Lines spoke with the Thorns General Manager (Wilkinson). According to the WNY Flash, “the only negative reference made during the conversation was a comment from Mr. Wilkenson [sic] that Mr. Riley did not mesh well with all of the personalities in the locker room.” The WNY Flash also reported that Wilkinson “referenced only one incident with a disgruntled player but indicated that an internal investigation resulted in no findings of wrong doing [sic] against Mr. Riley and the investigation was otherwise closed. His comment at that time was to get him if we could

The Yates report also makes it clear that U.S. Soccer was warned two more times about Riley after he was hired by the Flash, once in 2018 and once again in 2019.

ESPN reported last month that Thorns owner Merritt Paulson told Courage owner Steve Malik in 2019 that Riley should withdraw from consideration from the USWNT job, which would have helped conceal the real reason for his departure from the Thorns.

The Yates report also detailed the Thorns’ resistance to fully cooperating with the investigation.

“The Portland Thorns interfered with our access to relevant witnesses and raised specious legal arguments in an attempt to impede our use of relevant documents,” the report says.

Paulson is still the owner of the Thorns as well as the Portland Timbers of MLS. Wilkinson was removed as general manager of the Thorns last year but still serves the same role for the Timbers.

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Alex Morgan says she told U.S. Soccer not to hire Paul Riley as USWNT coach

Morgan said U.S. Soccer told her they were unaware of any investigation into Riley

In a new ESPN documentary, Alex Morgan said she told U.S. Soccer not to hire Paul Riley as U.S. women’s national team head coach in 2019.

Riley was a candidate to replace Jill Ellis at the time after his track record of on-field success as head coach of the North Carolina Courage, and previously with the Portland Thorns.

But a recent ESPN report said the Thorns had fired Riley for cause in 2015 following an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment. When Portland let Riley go, however, the club did not mention the investigation, which paved the way for him to get another NWSL coaching job with the Western New York Flash, which would eventually move to North Carolina and become the Courage.

An upcoming episode of ESPN’s investigative series E60 titled “Truth Be Told – The Fight For Women’s Professional Soccer,” explores Riley’s case and other recent instances of abuse in women’s soccer.

Morgan played for the Portland Thorns between 2013 and 2015, during which time her teammate Mana Shim confided to her that she had been subject to sexual harassment from Riley.

At the end of the 2015 regular season, Shim sent an email to Thorns ownership and executives as well as NWSL commissioner Jeff Plush informing them about her experiences with Riley.

The allegations against Riley did not become public until 2021, when The Athletic published story including on-record comments from Shim as well as accusations of harassment and coercion from former Thorns player Sinead Farrelly.

When Riley’s name came up for the USWNT job in 2019, Morgan said she did everything she could to stop it, adding that U.S. Soccer told her they were unaware of any accusations against Riley.

“I did my part in stopping him from becoming head coach,” Morgan said. “And that was sharing as much information as I could with the people who were in charge of selecting the next head coach.

“The response by U.S. Soccer was no, they had never heard of this misconduct or harassment. Not the report that Mana submitted, not the investigation, and that this was a surprise to them.”

The Athletic article contained a statement from Thorns owner Merritt Paulson, saying he informed the NWSL of the 2015 investigation into Riley. At the time, U.S. Soccer played an active role in running the league.

ESPN reported this month that Paulson told Courage owner Steve Malik in 2019 that Riley should withdraw from consideration from the USWNT job, which would have helped conceal the real reason for his departure from the Thorns.

“Truth Be Told – The Fight For Women’s Professional Soccer” will debut on Tuesday, Oct. 4, at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN, streaming afterward on ESPN+.

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Alex Morgan slams ‘pathetic’ Thorns statement in response to report on Merritt Paulson

The USWNT striker was furious at her former club after new reporting about owner Merritt Paulson

Alex Morgan slammed the Portland Thorns after an ESPN report claimed that owner Merritt Paulson tried to persuade former coach Paul Riley not to pursue the U.S. women’s national team job in 2019.

Riley was terminated for cause as Thorns coach in 2015 after sexual misconduct allegations by the club’s player Mana Shim, but the Thorns did not make that public and instead said Riley’s contract was simply not renewed when it expired.

After Riley got another job coaching the Western New York Flash, which moved and became the North Carolina Courage, Shim’s allegations, along with similar charges made by ex-Thorns player Sinead Farrelly, were finally made public last year in a report in The Athletic.

Riley was quickly fired as Courage head coach.

ESPN’s report on Thursday claimed that in 2019, Paulson told North Carolina Courage owner Steve Malik that it was “a good idea” for Riley to withdraw from consideration for the USWNT job.

Paulson was reportedly concerned that if Riley had applied to coach the USWNT, then the real reason behind his Thorns departure in 2015 would become public.

The Thorns responded to ESPN’s report on Thursday, saying it was “an extremely biased and misleading article.”

That response generated plenty of negative reaction on Twitter including from Morgan, who played for the Thorns in 2015 and whom Shim told about some of Riley’s behavior at the time.

“We (the players of the NWSL, especially players in Portland) deserve so much better than a boys club protecting their own. Also, that statement in response by Thorns FC is just pathetic,” she charged.

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