Why Was Abuse in Women’s Soccer Ignored?

October 6, 2022

Also: schoolgirls protesting in Iran ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

October 6, 2022

Dear Meteor readers,

We’ve got a good one today, so let’s get right to it: The Yates Report, led by former Obama-appointed Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, was released this week. It’s a deep dive into 10 years of abuse in American women’s soccer—and the findings are horrifying. Don’t know much about soccer? Lucky for you, my colleague Shannon has the goods. She’ll be summarizing the findings and giving us some ways to support the players.

Also, of course, more on Iran.

Bending it like Beckham,

Samhita Mukhopadhyay

WHAT’S GOING ON

Girls on the frontlines: This week, powerful images of young Iranian girls standing against the regime have gone viral. These students—at great personal risk—have been removing their headscarves, shouting down corrupt education officials, and chasing those officials out of schools. Their acts of bravery set a new tone for the protests as they enter their third week. Violence against the protestors also grows steadily, as at least 76 people have died at the hands of officials.

Also, in Iran: What happened to Nika Shakarami? In mid-September, 16-year-old protestor Nika Shakarami went missing after telling a friend Iranian police were chasing her. Days later, her family members appeared on Iranian broadcast news claiming Nika had died falling from a building. It turns out her family was forced to make these statements after what a source described as “intense interrogations [by police] and being threatened that other family members would be killed.” Her family ultimately took her body back to their hometown for burial, but before a funeral could be carried out, Nika’s body was taken by Iranian security forces and buried without ceremony in a different town 25 miles away. Her family believes that Nika was killed by Iranian police for her protest activity and have called for an investigation into her death.

AND:

Details about an alleged abusive incident between Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, and their children came out this week as a result of a lawsuit over a winery they own together. The suit alleges that, while on a flight, Pitt choked one of the children and poured beer and wine on another. It also claims Pitt grabbed Jolie and shook her aggressively. His lawyers are denying all allegations.
Extremely anti-abortion Senate candidate Herschel Walker allegedly paid for his girlfriend’s abortion back in 2009. But Walker claims he doesn’t even know the woman in question, which is super weird considering she claims to be the mother of one of his children. Herschel is now changing his tune on abortion saying, abortion is “nothing to be ashamed of.” Well isn’t that convenient!
A new GAO Report on Latiné Representation in American Media shows that over the last decade, the amount of Latiné workers in televised media has only grown by one percent, to an abysmal total of 12 percent. Despite the paltry efforts of programs like HBO’s Pa’Lante or the “Latino Stories” rows on other streaming platforms, Latiné people make up 18 percent of the American population but only hold 10 percent of all media jobs, with only three percent of that group being women. Qué pena.
More than 30 people were killed in a shooting and stabbing massacre at a daycare in Thailand. Approximately 22 children were stabbed to death by a former police officer who was at the daycare center to collect his child. This is one of the worst massacres against children carried out by a single suspect since the 2011 killings at a summer camp in Norway.

ON THE PITCH

What Exactly Is the Yates Report?

The biggest report into widespread abuse in American soccer is here, and it’s worse than we imagined.

BY SHANNON MELERO

MEMBERS OF THE NWSL’S NJ/NY GOTHAM FC HUDDLING BEFORE A RECENT GAME AGAINST THE CHICAGO RED STARS. (IMAGE BY IRA L. BLACK VIA GETTY IMAGES)

On Monday, the sports world was rocked to its core by the release of the Yates Report, an incredibly thorough investigation commissioned by the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) and conducted by former U.S. Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates. The purpose of the investigation was to look into what the report called “allegations of past abusive behavior and sexual misconduct in women’s professional soccer,” namely within the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

The NWSL is America’s professional women’s soccer league, and it features some of the best players in the world, like Marta, Megan Rapinoe, Crystal Dunn, and other members of the U.S. Women’s National Team (USWNT) along with scores of lesser-known young women who play for amazing teams like OL Reign, Racing Louisville, and the North Carolina Courage.

This investigation does include the full details a formal complaint filed by beloved USWNT member Christen Press, but the main subjects are some of those lesser-known NWSL players—both named and anonymous. The full report is over 300 pages long and details years of sexual misconduct and emotional/verbal abuse from several coaches across the top-performing teams in the league (including the Portland Thorns, Chicago Red Stars, and the Houston Dash). “Abuse in the NWSL was systemic,” investigators write. At least half the League’s teams parted with coaches for alleged misconduct including “verbal and emotional abuse, sexually charged remarks, and coercive sexual contact.” Additionally, some of the allegations concern youth soccer leagues, programs designed for school-age children who are training to play at the college level.

The report also found that the USSF, individual teams, and the League as a whole failed to address known complaints submitted by players and staff. “They either minimized the reports—claiming players were trying to kill the League, or that a coach was ‘put in a bad position’—or they ignored them entirely,” the report reads. Both the league and the federation also “failed to establish investigation policies and protocols establishing how and by whom investigations of abuse would be conducted.”

Those who did come forward—most notably Mana Shim and Sinead Farrelly, who are both named in the report—were mistreated by their employers and the governing body that oversees their league. One player, listed only as Player B alleged that Coach Paul Riley “took control over [her]” in 2010 through sexual coercion and threats to trade her to a different team if she didn’t comply with his wishes and respond to his harassing text messages. That player eventually left the team for her own safety, and Riley continued in his position.

SINEAD FARRELLY ON THE PITCH IN 2015. (IMAGE BY RICH BARNES VIA GETTY IMAGES)

So the question now is: Where does soccer go from here? The Yates Report acknowledges that “the roots of abuse in women’s soccer run deep and will not be eliminated through reform in the NWSL alone.” The report goes on to suggest greater transparency and accountability within the League and the Federation. This is long overdue, of course, but it can only succeed with consistent outside pressure. Systemic abuse thrives in darkness and silence—silence from mainstream feminism, from casual viewers, from people who would rather look the other way because “no one cares about women’s sports” so why bother investing time or care into it?

You don’t need to be a soccer fan to care about what’s happening in the NWSL. But how we treat athletes says a lot about how we view them as people. If we can show up when they’re winning, we can show up when they need our support.

I’m a dedicated fan, and I plan to reassess how I can better support the players in this league going forward. And no matter your level of commitment, we can all be better advocates. Here are some easy ways to start:

Find the team that represents your state or houses a player you already like and follow them on social media. (My team is Gotham FC, and they can be your team too!)
To stay updated on what’s going on in the world of women’s soccer, follow Meg Linehan on Twitter; she’s probably the smartest, most dedicated soccer reporter in the game right now.
Be bold! If you’re on your umpteenth rewatch of Bend It Like Beckham, try watching an actual soccer game. The USWNT faces off against their rivals, England, tomorrow on Fox and they will need all the support they can get as they try to perform under the immense scrutiny brought on by this report.

Shannon Melero is a Bronx-born writer on a mission to establish borough supremacy. She covers pop culture, religion, and sports as one of feminism’s final frontiers.

BEFORE YOU GO!

This week on UNDISTRACTED, Brittany Packnett Cunningham spoke with Congresswoman Cori Bush about her new memoir, The Forerunner. Rep. Bush also shared what it was like to make her way to Congress as a grassroots organizer, mother, pastor, and survivor of sexual violence. It’s an intimate and compelling discussion between two absolute powerhouses. Give it a listen this weekend—after the England v. USA match obviously.

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