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Women's pro soccer to pay $5M settlement, ends NY probe of sexual abuse and other claims
By
Arun Venugopal
Published Feb 5, 2025
Modified Feb 5, 2025
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Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images
By
Arun Venugopal
Published Feb 5, 2025
Modified Feb 5, 2025
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The National Women's Soccer League has agreed to create a $5 million restitution fund and enact a series of reforms to settle claims it subjected players to a systemic “culture” of sexual and racial abuse at the hands of coaches and other personnel, officials said Wednesday.
The settlement, announced by New York Attorney General Letitia James and her counterparts in Illinois and Washington, D.C., concluded a yearslong inquiry into the league, which found in a report that “certain coaches verbally abused female players, and sexually assaulted players or coerced players into sexual relationships,” with little repercussions.
“We owe it to the brave women who came forward with their stories not to let it happen ever again,” James said. “Today is about righting these wrongs and protecting women in sports.”
“We remain grateful to the many brave individuals who came forward to share their experiences, which has informed our approach to systemic reform,” National Women's Soccer League Commissioner Jessica Berman said in a statement.
“We look forward to supporting the administrator in distributing the Players’ Restitution Fund,” she added.
While the settlement did not include an admission of guilt, it said the league "accepts these findings" and “has taken significant steps towards addressing the violations described.”
The settlement came three years after the attorneys general launched an independent investigation, which found in its report that the league was “permeated by a culture of inappropriate and abusive behavior.” Coaches exercised enormous control over players, “both on and off the field, and those coaches used this power to bully.”
The findings of misconduct included allegations leveled at Christy Holly, the former coach of Gotham FC, a team based in New York and New Jersey. Holly was banned for life from the league after it determined he had engaged in sexual abuse. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and his wife Tammy Murphy are among the team's founding owners. In 2022, the governor called the reports of abuse “disgusting, completely reprehensible and completely unacceptable.”
Three other coaches received lifetime bans, while several others were suspended or received other discipline.
“Such coaches exercised enormous control over players, both on and off the field, and those coaches used this power to bully, harass, and abuse players and retaliate against those who spoke out or resisted their advances,” the report on the AGs' investigation found.
In addition to the fund, which will provide compensation to abused players, the settlement requires “rigorous vetting” of prospective coaches, trainers, general managers and safety officers; prohibits coaches from exerting “exclusive control” over the housing or medical decisions of players; prevents teams from investigating themselves in matters of coach misconduct; and creates the role of a safety officer for the league.
It also requires each team in the league to employ mental health professionals and will provide the participating attorneys general with anonymous yearly surveys of players pertaining to the conduct of coaches.
Brian Schwalb, the District of Columbia's attorney general, said “coaches and other staff began abusing players almost as soon as the league was formed back in 2013,” according to the findings of an official inquiry.
He added that coaches who were forced out after players' complaints “would quickly find a new home in another city with a different club and then predictably the same abusive and unlawful behavior would start again.”
The $5 million restitution fund will be administered by Barbara Jones, a former federal judge for the Southern District of New York.
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Race And Justice Unit
Arun Venugopal
Arun Venugopal is a senior reporter for the WNYC and Gothamist Race & Justice Unit who focuses on issues of race and bias in our region. His reporting also tackles the topics of immigration, faith, and inequality. Arun serves as the regular fill-in host of the station's "U.S. of Anxiety" program. Arun was the creator and host of Micropolis, a series about race and identity. He is a contributor to NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered. He has appeared on PBS Newshour, On the Media and Studio 360, and has been published in The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal and Salon. He also frequently serves as an emcee and moderator of panel discussions on race, religion, and identity issues and has been a guest host of NPR's "Fresh Air." He lives with his family in Queens.
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