U.S. Soccer 'failed' women players, report finds, as new abuse claims emerge

Related: Report of the Independent Investigation to the U.S. Soccer Federation

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Source: Washington Post

U.S. Soccer ‘failed’ women players, report finds, as new abuse claims emerge

By Rick Maese
October 3, 2022 at 1:00 p.m. EDT

Abuse and misconduct were both pervasive and systemic at the highest tiers of women’s professional soccer, and the sport’s governing bodies and team executives repeatedly failed to heed warnings or punish coaches who abused players, according to an investigative report released Monday by the U.S. Soccer Federation.

The year-long probe by Sally Q. Yates, the former acting attorney general, found that some of the game’s top coaches were the subjects of numerous allegations of sexual misconduct, including some that have not been previously made public. The coaches also leaned on vicious coaching tactics, Yates found, including “relentless, degrading tirades; manipulation that was about power, not improving performance; and retaliation against those who attempted to come forward."

“Players described a pattern of sexually charged comments, unwanted sexual advances and sexual touching, and coercive sexual intercourse,” Yates wrote in the executive summary of her report.

U.S. Soccer hired Yates to investigate last year amid reports in The Washington Post and The Athletic of widespread allegations of abuse against coaches in the National Women’s Soccer League.

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Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/10/03/nwsl-abuse-report-sally-yates/

Non-paywalled link: https://wapo.st/3ycRHYG