when Christ Holly, sporting director of Racing de Louisville, called the footballer to his office Erin Simone to watch the video of one of the team’s matches and analyze specific plays, he feared the worst. “He threatened to touch her every time she lost the ball”, reveals part of a lengthy report on systematic abuse in women’s football in the United States.
The independent investigation by the King & Spalding law firm was born from the very voice of the players, who decided to break the silence and report the abuse, promising not to play again until this situation is taken with the seriousness it deserves.
In addition to Holly, the document focuses on two other trainers, Paul Riley Y Rory Dame, to illustrate the seriousness of the phenomenon, but highlights that last season half of the First Division teams separated from their coaches after such accusations.
From sexually explicit phone messages, to groping and abusive comments of all kinds, and even coercive sexual intercourse. Far from being an isolated situation, Simon’s joins a long list of cases involving all levels of American women’s football: from the youth divisions to the First Division.
Nearly 200 interviews were conducted with players (retired and active), coaches, several team members and even club owners and Manipulative tactics were exposed that were more about the abuse of power than the improvement of the game.
The teams, the League and the Federation “not only failed systematically when it came to responding adequately to player complaints and clear evidence, but also when it came to establishing measures to prevent and deal with it”, the document underlines. . 36 pages.
Due to this lack of vigilance, the coaches responsible for these abuses have moved from one team to another without anyone interrupting contracts, whitewashed by press releases in which the clubs thanked the services provided. Behind the attackers, their accomplices, an aberrant procedure.
The law firm acknowledges that sexual misconduct was already a widespread problem in women’s football prior to the founding of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) in 2012. Its birth, as a replacement for the so-called Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS), evidently failed to correct the situation or establish firewalls.
ON Rory Damefor example, his Eclipse Select Soccer Club junior players remember that he called them “whores”, “retard” or “big ass” and that “on several occasions he has overstepped the limit of sexual relations”. Once at the Chicago Red Stars, within the league, he created a hostile environment with verbal abuse during matches, the report said.
The investigation claims that the clubs, the NWSL and the USSF (United States Soccer Federation), Above the safety and well-being of the players, they prioritized the legal consequences of a possible dispute with the coaches and the bad press it might attract. Far from releasing them from responsibilities, it makes it even more serious, as it is a problem that could have been nipped in the bud long ago.
Normalizing some sexist comments and verbal and emotional abuse as part of “hard training”, as well as the intimate relationships between coaches and players, have helped perpetuate these behaviors and sustain them over time.
Against them also any reprisals feared by the athletes: “As in any professional league, they just wanted to play and maximize their chances of being called up for the national team.”
In short, the players were between a rock and a hard place. In many cases, to protect their professional future, they have tried to cope with these abuses. Simon, for example, dressed in a lot of clothes when she was summoned by her coach. Thus, until one day everything came to light.
The President of the Women’s Football Federation and former footballer, Cindy Parlow Cone, He referred to these situations as “deeply troubling and painful” At the same time, it ensures that the presiding body will apply the recommendations suggested in the report.
That is, a regulation that clearly defines inappropriate behavior and containment towards players so that they can express future concerns.
“The federation is fully committed to doing everything in its power to ensure that all players, at all levels, have a safe and respectful place to learn, grow and compete.”he concluded.
Source: Clarin
