RALEIGH, N.C. — The NC Courage had to fire perhaps the best coach in the NWSL, the man who built them into an international powerhouse, for one reason, although certainly not only one reason.
Trust.
The allegations of sexual coercion against Paul Riley are shocking, and at least some of them were verified enough to lead to his firing from the Portland Thorns in 2015. And though what he's being accused of happened before he arrived in Cary, to the Courage's credit, it acted decisively Thursday afternoon to fire the coach who led the team to a pair of NWSL titles.
Too many abusers — sexual, emotional, physical — have been enabled for too long, men and women alike, but mostly men. At some point, the NWSL is going to have to start listening to its own players. Maybe this is it.
The NWSL Players Association immediately called for Riley's suspension while the accusations against him, first reported by The Athletic on Thursday, were reinvestigated, and while the Courage should have done it before lunch Thursday, the delay could be explained by the eventual decision to cut ties with Riley entirely.
That move was announced in a statement released by the team and attributed not only to principal owner Stephen Malik but the Courage players as well. There's good reason for that.
The new allegations against Riley are merely the latest in what the NWSLPA called "systemic abuse" within the NWSL, and dozens of prominent players, from Megan Rapinoe to Alex Morgan and beyond, took to social media on Thursday to express their horror and disgust that more of their peers had to come forward publicly to hold their abusers accountable.
Riley is the second male NWSL coach to be accused of abusive behavior this month alone. On Friday the Courage is supposed to host the Washington Spirit, who fired its coach Tuesday after an NWSL investigation verified claims of outrageous mistreatment of players.
Riley came with the team when Malik bought the Western NY Flash and moved the franchise here in 2017 and any negligence or lack of due diligence done on the circumstances of his firing by the Thorns when he was hired falls on owners long gone.
From the Courage's perspective, his presence was merely a stroke of absolutely massive luck, a coach whose tactical nous and ability to engender team spirit has been essential to the team's on-field success. In a statement to The Athletic, the team said it has seen no evidence of any untoward behavior from Riley during his tenure here and Riley told The Athletic the allegations against him are "completely untrue."
The team's stance changed quickly once the news broke. Riley may very well have learned his lesson in Portland and been entirely above-board with the Courage, but that was not a risk the NWSL nor the Courage could take at this particular moment.
Because as players continue to speak out about wide-ranging mistreatment across the league — one claimed on Twitter on Thursday her club forged her signature on a contract — the NWSL is not in a position where it can take anything for granted when it comes to the safety and security of its most valuable assets.
Since Lisa Baird took over as commissioner last February, the NWSL has seen massive growth both in terms of visibility and sponsorship, with major brands getting on board, celebrity owners supporting existing and expansion franchises — that includes Naomi Osaka with the Courage; attempts to reach her representatives for comment Thursday were not immediately successful — and finally capitalizing on the long latent popularity of women's soccer in this country.
This isn't the first attempt at a women's league in the United States, but the NWSL has done everything needed to be the lasting last and go toe-to-toe with the European clubs supported by the resources of their massive men's teams. Over the past two years, even amid a pandemic, its growth has felt exponential. And given the potential for women's sports and soccer in particular in this country, we may look at even this blossoming as merely embryonic.
But none of that matters if the players themselves don't feel valued as people, or worse, feel threatened. The legitimacy of a professional is not determined by finances and markets and ratings and attendance alone. Integrity, competitive and otherwise, is just as important. Baird and the league's power brokers can't count the money with one hand and cover their eyes with the other.
Shortly after the Courage announced Riley's firing, the NWSL released a statement saying that the allegations would be referred to the US Center for SafeSport and league and team sport would have to go through training with that organization and new background checks and screening. The NWSL also said it would adopt a new anonymous reporting system, but it's entirely fair to ask why none of that was already in place.
Predatory coaches have preyed on athletes for too long in men's and women's sports alike, but the NWSL is having a moment of awakening when it comes to all the behavior that may have been covered up to keep the engine running and ensure the league's survival.
The players have to be able to trust that the NWSL has their best interests at heart, if not out of altruism then through collective bargaining with the league. There's a session scheduled Friday. Riley's future would have been on the table. The Courage — and the NWSL — couldn't wait that long.
