Plush served as commissioner of the NWSL from 2015 to 2017, a period during which several ugly incidents of abuse were documented in the Yates report.
The report detailed how Mana Shim emailed Plush directly with allegations of “persistent and unwanted advances” from her coach Paul Riley, but the commissioner did not take action to prevent the Western NY Flash from hiring Riley after he was fired by the Portland Thorns.
North Courage owner Stephen Malik also 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.
The Yates report said Plush “never responded to our outreach.”
Plush’s resignation came just two weeks after USA Curling released a statement backing him and saying he would be staying on as CEO.
“Our steadfast commitment to the curling community has not changed,” the USA Curling statement read. “But in recent months, our relationship with this community has been damaged. We have not communicated effectively, and some believe we have not listened. There has been anger, frustration, and confusion.
“We see you. We hear you. We care about you. Our priority is to rebuild trust. To start that process, today we lead with action.”
Plush had been USA Curling’s CEO since February 2020.
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.
The embattled owner took a step back from the clubs, but the chances of a sale are still unknown
Portland Thorns and Timbers owner Merritt Paulson has announced he is stepping down as CEO of both clubs amid the continuing fallout from the Yates investigation.
Paulson hinted at potentially selling the two teams but did not elaborate as pressure continues to grow on the under-fire owner.
The Yates investigation showed the Thorns organization actually helped Paul Riley obtain another job in the NWSL, despite having been fired after a Thorns investigation into sexual misconduct.
The report also showed that under Paulson’s watch, president of business Mike Golub — who has since been fired along with president of soccer Gavin Wilkinson — created “an atmosphere of disrespect and intimidation towards women and working mothers employed at the club over a span of 11 years.”
Though Golub and Wilkinson are gone, fans in Portland have continued to demand Paulson sell the team. The owner released a statement on Tuesday that hinted he may be heading in that direction, while also stepping down as CEO of the NWSL and MLS clubs.
“The Portland Thorns were created to be a beacon of what is possible in women’s sports. A successful team is built on trust, equality and accountability, and today I am holding myself accountable for not doing enough,” Paulson said.
Hinting at a possible sale, he added: “Looking ahead, our organization is at a crossroads, and the future is not necessarily a clear path. No matter what happens, ensuring the long-term health and success of the Portland Thorns is critical to me, as I know it is for our players and the community.
“Given the complexities involved on several levels, finalizing the correct path forward will take time. I love this organization as if it was part of my family, and to me, what is most important is getting it right.”
The Red Stars are looking to force their owner’s hand
Chicago Red Stars players released a coordinated statement on Monday calling on owner Arnim Whisler to sell the team.
Whisler is under fire after revelations from last week’s Yates report showed that he shielded former coach Rory Dames from accountability despite numerous complaints dating back to 2014.
Dames was forced to resign last year after a Washington Post report detailed allegations of sexist comments, abusive conduct, and inappropriate relationships with players.
Red Stars players are now doing their part to force Whisler’s hand, with their statement saying the owner lied to them about how much he knew about the allegations against Dames.
It continued: “We are united with the Board of Directors in their decision to remove Whisler from the organization entirely and look forward to finding a new majority owner who can help us reach the full potential that we as players always knew existed at this club.”
“Obviously it would be really disappointing to play in front of an empty, silent stadium”
Sophia Smith has a message for disgruntled Portland Thorns fans considering a boycott of the team’s games: Please keep showing up.
Already stinging over the team’s handling of former coach Paul Riley, Thorns fans were further rocked last week with the release of the Yates report.
The investigation revealed even more harmful actions undertaken by Thorns leadership, who were shown to have given a positive recommendation for a new job to Riley after he was fired by the Thorns amid an investigation into sexual misconduct.
In the fallout, the club has fired Gavin Wilkinson, the president of soccer for both the Portland Thorns and Portland Timbers, and the organization’s president of business Mike Golub, who the report said created “an atmosphere of disrespect and intimidation towards women and working mothers employed at the club over a span of 11 years.”
Under-fire owner Merritt Paulson has taken a step back from running the Thorns, but fans have been calling for him to go one step further and sell the NWSL club and the Portland Timbers of MLS.
Speaking to the media ahead of the U.S. national team’s friendly against Spain on Tuesday, Smith urged Thorns fans to continue showing up at Providence Park despite their justified anger with the club.
“I think what everyone is trying to do is support the players,” Smith said.
“I think that’s the most important thing that anyone can do right now. I think in terms of our home game coming up, obviously it would be really disappointing to play in front of an empty, silent stadium. I think ultimately, fans not showing up affects the players more than it affects anyone.”
The Thorns will host a NWSL semifinal match on October 23 against the winner of the San Diego Wave-Chicago Red Stars quarterfinal tie.
Sep 25, 2022; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Thorns FC forward Sophia Smith (9) receives the Supporters Player of the Year award after winning against Chicago Red Stars at Providence Park. Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports
Last week, Thorns and Timbers supporters released a statement calling on Paulson to sell the two teams. They added that while they still back the players, “With playoffs approaching, yes, it means that game days might look different.”
Smith and her Thorns teammates hope that’s not the case.
“Talking to some of my teammates, we would still really like people to show up and support us, because at the end of the day, even through all of this, we still have to step on the field and perform and play soccer,” she said.
“Our biggest thing is we want to do that in front of our fans because that’s one of the positive things that we have left in Portland and something that we always look forward to.”
The two teams came together prior to a friendly at a sold-out Wembley
England and the U.S. women’s national team came together to recognize the continuing impact of the Yates report prior to Friday’s friendly at Wembley Stadium.
In front of a sold-out crowd at Wembley, both teams posed in front of a banner that read “Protect The Players” prior to the game. Players on both teams also wore tealarmbands to stand in solidarity with sexual violence survivors.
In the build-up to the game, England players Lucy Bronze and Beth Mead expressed solidarity with their American counterparts, which was gratefully received by U.S. star Megan Rapinoe.
“There’s just so much solidarity between the things that we have to fight for,” Rapinoe said in her pre-match press conference. “So obviously, there will come a time where we’ll be competing on the pitch, but I feel like everything before that, we’re all fighting together for the same things.”
Watch USWNT & England come together prior to friendly
The duality of women’s soccer has rarely been laid out more plainly
Friday’s game between the U.S. women’s national team and England should be a wonderful occasion.
The defending World Cup champions and most decorated team in women’s soccer, playing the winners of Euro 2022, at a sold-out Wembley? Star players on both teams firing on all cylinders? As far as friendlies go, this should be as good as it gets.
And yet, this USWNT vs. England match — through no fault of the players that will play it — juxtaposes the wonderful heights the sport has reached against the hellish lows revealed in the findings of Sally Yates’ investigation into systemic abuse in the NWSL.
“The players are not doing well. We are horrified, and heartbroken, and frustrated, and exhausted, and really, really angry,” Sauerbrunn told reporters on Wednesday, before later adding a sad fact of life for USWNT players.
“Well, unfortunately, I would say that a lot of us have been navigating these sorts of things for a very long time,” said the veteran center back, who has seen the USWNT come through battles over playing conditions and equal pay. She’s also speaking from the perspective of someone who has truly been through it in NWSL, starting out with an FC Kansas City team that was moved over issues with both poor infrastructure and disgusting emails from an owner.
That team moved west and became the Utah Royals, who ceased to exist after owner Dell Loy Hansen walked away under intense pressure after reports of racist language and demeaning treatment of women players (something that came up again in the Yates report). Sauerbrunn moved to Portland, only to find a Thorns club that is undergoing a seismic shift after the investigation’s findings concerning their handling of Paul Riley.
It’s a theme that came up with every USWNT player who spoke in a press conference format heading into Friday’s showcase game. OL Reign defender Alana Cook, whose club hired Farid Benstiti even after he had been publicly accused of body shaming at Paris Saint-Germain, struck a similar chord to Sauerbrunn.
“I think as women, personally as a minority, this isn’t new,” said Cook. “I think these hostile conditions are kind of now being unearthed and properly revealed, but it’s things that we’ve been dealing with for the entirety of our careers.”
Megan Rapinoe, who also plays for the Reign, ruefully laughed while praising the USWNT’s ability to cope and still play at a high level.
“As sick as this sounds, I feel like we’re used to having to take on so much more than gameplan, tactics,” said Rapinoe. “I feel like we have an incredible ability to shoulder so much.”
Still, Rapinoe on multiple occasions circled back to the positive of the current circumstances. Wembley, one of the world’s genuine soccer shrines, is going to be packed with fans to watch two of the brightest lights in the game. It’s rare, and it has incredible value, and it’s what these players actually deserve.
(AP Photo/Alastair Grant)
“This is an incredible game, an incredible moment that actually, I think, sits kind of nicely with this horrific thing,” explained Rapinoe. “The players have pushed (women’s soccer) to this point, where it’s a sellout, 90,000-plus at Wembley. Off another team fighting for respect in their country and fighting for the right treatment, having an incredible run and being able to galvanize their fans in the country behind them, and feeling like this is a special moment for us to all come together and celebrate women’s football for all of the good that it is.”
Women’s soccer has seemingly always been in a balancing act, carrying amazing feats in one hand and damaging, unfair treatment in the other. The last NWSL champions pushed through a run for the ages while also successfully demanding ownership change at the Washington Spirit, and rather than being a one-off, it feels like the history of women’s soccer played out by one team as a metaphor.
This friendly is a glimpse at what women’s soccer could be all the time, in so many more places. It’s a north star shining through some extraordinarily bleak circumstances, and hopefully it can help guide the sport to better times. If people with authority could simply bring themselves to care about providing a safe, fair environment, this kind of occasion wouldn’t be such a rarity.
“There’s a reason that we’re at Wembley right now, there’s a reason that there’s 90,000 people coming, there’s a reason that these two particular teams have stretched way past the field and done something really special,” said Rapinoe. “I feel like this is a really special moment in women’s football. I know it’s just a friendly, but it does mean more than that.”
All of that is true, and Rapinoe is right to remain defiant when it comes to protecting that joy and that sense of accomplishment. It just also lives in the same space as the trauma that hovers over seemingly every team, no matter how successful they are.
Cook put it very succinctly on Wednesday. “I think we have such a momentous occasion on Friday playing at a sold out Wembley Stadium. And it’s marred by this report, and it’s marred by the atrocities that have been condoned and tolerated and allowed to go on in the NWSL for the last 10 years.”
Let’s hope these massive days don’t keep being marred by the kinds of people that have brought so much pain to women’s soccer.
Both owners are under fire for their roles in the Yates report
U.S. women’s national team and OL Reign star Megan Rapinoe has said Portland Thorns owner Merritt Paulson and Chicago Red Stars owner Arnim Whisler are not fit to be in their positions.
Paulson and Whisler have been under fire for their roles in the Yates report, with both owners taking steps back from their positions this week in the fallout from the investigation.
But neither has indicated at this point that they would look to sell their team, with Paulson also the owner of the Portland Timbers of MLS.
Rapinoe, speaking at a press conference ahead of Friday’s friendly against England at Wembley, has said that both Paulson and Whisler should not be part of the NWSL.
“Those people are in positions that have responsibilities and they didn’t fulfill those responsibilities,” Rapinoe said. “They didn’t protect the players at all. I feel like it’s impossible to overstate that every single year, someone said something about multiple coaches in the league and about multiple different environments. So if year after year after year, you cannot perform your duties — I know I wouldn’t be in my position if I couldn’t perform my duties year after year.”
Rapinoe added: “Without accountability and without people specifically who did the wrong thing being gone, that just says to us that nobody’s really hearing us. So obviously, the firings in Portland. We’ll see what happens with the management but I don’t think that Merritt Paulson is fit to be the owner of that team. I don’t think Arnim is fit to be the owner of Chicago. And we need to see those people gone.”
Rapinoe’s words came after her USWNT teammate Becky Sauerbrunn called for the dismissal of “every owner and executive and U.S. Soccer official who has repeatedly failed the players and failed to protect the players.”
On Wednesday, Paulson fired Gavin Wilkinson, the president of soccer for both the Portland Thorns and Portland Timbers, and the organization’s president of business Mike Golub.
“The Board of Directors of the Chicago Red Stars voted this morning to remove Arnim Whisler as Chairman of the Board, to transition him out of his board seat immediately with the Chicago Red Stars (Chicago Women’s Soccer Academy, LLC) and to codify his removal from any further participation with either club or board operations,” read the board’s statement.
“The Board was deeply disappointed after reading the Yates report and believes the club cannot move forward in rebuilding trust with players, staff and the Red Stars community with his continued involvement. Job one for board members is to continue building a culture where players, and all who work at the club, feel that they are in a safe and supportive environment. Lastly, the board wants to extend its gratitude for all who displayed such bravery in sharing their stories. Thank you for coming forward.”
The changes do not mean that Whisler has sold his share of the club. On Tuesday, he posted a statement to Chicago’s site saying that he had stepped down from the league’s Board of Governors and had given operational control of the club to the Red Stars’ “executive team.”
Whisler not gone yet
While Whisler’s step back being followed by the board’s move to strip him of power does provide some distance between an owner who per the Yates investigation repeatedly shielded former coach Rory Dames despite numerous complaints, it does not mean he is no longer involved with the club.
At the moment, Whisler still holds a controlling share of the club, and based on his history — which includes a claim he had stepped back from day-to-day control early in 2022, only for him to announce in Tuesday’s statement that he was only now moving away from operational control — it is impossible to believe that the team and organization will be free of his influence until he has divested his financial stake in the club.
Chicago, on Whisler’s watch, was found to have let players down beyond simply hiring and empowering Dames for many years. Players ended up having Whisler as a landlord rather than a proper team housing environment, while both the Yates investigation and Local 134 have said that statements Whisler made to them were later proven to be false or misleading. Dames was allowed to resign — and praised by a club statement announcing the move — just before a Washington Post report spelled out extensive allegations of sexist and racist comments, abusive conduct, and inappropriate relationships with players.
In other words, how can anyone believe that Whisler will actually stay out of team business? And how can the players and staff that remain heal and move on with him in place, even at a distance?
According to CBS Sports, the club’s board “wants to help facilitate a sale of Arnim’s shares,” but that necessarily means he still holds those shares.
CRS comms followed up on that, and added "The board wants to help facilitate a sale of Arnim’s shares in a timely process which is both prudent and when complete can lead Red Stars players, coaches and front office staff to a better future."
Red Stars supporters’ group Local 134 said they will “boycott all in-person events including attendance at games, merchandise purchases, and other Red Stars events that directly or indirectly benefit Arnim Whisler.” The group also urged fans who had already purchased 2023 season tickets to demand a refund in full.
Just as players and employees shouldn’t have to suffer through the environment Whisler fostered, fans should not have to choose between completely staying away and turning their backs on something they love or feeling like they’re supporting someone who has let them down in such an egregious manner.
“The U.S. Soccer-released Sally Yates report which was published earlier this week served as a harsh reminder that appointing Christy Holly as Racing Louisville FC’s first coach was a mistake,” read a letter from club president James O’Connor.
“We have learned from that mistake, and we apologize to Erin Simon, to our players past and present and to our fans.
“We commend Erin for her bravery in coming forward as part of U.S. Soccer’s investigation. And while our former coach was terminated within 24 hours of us being alerted to the behavior, we know that wasn’t enough and that we failed our locker room by creating a space where this behavior could occur.”
The Yates report did document how Racing Louisville fired Holly quickly after details emerged of his alleged predatory relationship with his player Simon. But the report also detailed how Racing Louisville, including O’Connor, ignored warnings about Holly from his previous stint as head coach at Sky Blue FC.
Racing Louisville ignored warnings over Holly
Holly was let go from Sky Blue due to “verbal abuse” and his “relationship with a player,” ex-USWNT captain Christie Pearce Rampone, the Yates report said. It elaborated:
His time [with Sky Blue] was plagued with complaints of verbal abuse and mistreatment (“paranoid, ultraaggressive, short-tempered, nasty, mean, patronizing, humiliating,” “angry, disorganized, erratic,” and “abrasive on the sidelines”) and allegations of a relationship with a player that caused a toxic team environment. Ultimately, Holly was asked to leave the club abruptly, midseason, because of his “verbal abuse” and his “relationship with a player.”
Nevertheless, when Racing Louisville was searching for a head coach ahead of the club’s expansion season in 2021, the Yates report said that O’Connor and Racing Louisville president Brad Estes ignored warnings from Mary Smoot, a former Sky Blue executive.
When Smoot later spoke to Estes and O’Connor, Smoot said they proactively brought up Holly’s relationship with Pearce Rampone at the outset of the call “and they had no problem with it.” She recalled telling them that the fans loved Holly, but “the players did not have a positive experience.” She noted that Estes and O’Connor did not ask any follow-up questions. “To me, it sounded like they made their minds up. It wasn’t a long conversation. They didn’t ask me if I would hire him.”
Racing Louisville also “did not to reach out to any players or staff who worked directly with Holly at Sky Blue,” the report said.
Racing Louisville fails to cooperate with Yates investigation
The Yates report also made it clear that the club did not cooperate fully with the investigation into Holly’s behavior.
“Racing Louisville FC refused to produce documents concerning Christy Holly and would not permit witnesses (even former employees) to answer relevant questions regarding Holly’s tenure, citing -4- non-disclosure and non-disparagement agreements it signed with Holly,” it said.
Still, O’Connor’s letter promised: “We will cooperate with the ongoing NWSL/NWSLPA joint investigation,” which is set to conclude in the coming months.
The letter concludes: “We are not the same club that we were in August of 2021. We now owe it to our players and community to prove it.”
