Arnim Whisler is no longer the chairman of the Chicago Red Stars.
Following the release of the findings from the independent investigation led by former United States deputy attorney general Sally Q. Yates that looked into allegations of abuse and sexual misconduct within women's professional soccer in the U.S., the NWSL team's board of directors announced it voted to remove Whisler from his position.
"The Board was deeply disappointed after reading the Yates report and believes the club cannot move forward in rebuilding trust with players, staff and the Red Stars community with his continued involvement," the statement said, in part.
Whisler released a statement on Tuesday revealing he was removing himself from his governance role with the NWSL board of governors and would no longer be in control of the Red Stars because he believed "current presence is a distraction."
He also said, "I am filled with sorrow upon reading the many stories and experiences shared by so many incredibly brave individuals who have played in the NWSL, including our beloved club. I am so deeply sorry for what our players experienced during their time spent in Chicago."
On Monday, the United States Soccer Federation released the findings of the investigation one year to the date it announced it retained Yates to conduct it after multiple reports of allegations of mistreatment toward players, sexual misconduct, and hostile workplaces.
The full report summarized the findings of abuse and misconduct within the sport at multiple levels:
"Our investigation has revealed a league in which abuse and misconduct—verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct—had become systemic, spanning multiple teams, coaches, and victims. Abuse in the NWSL is rooted in a deeper culture in women's soccer, beginning in youth leagues, that normalizes verbally abusive coaching and blurs boundaries between coaches and players. The verbal and emotional abuse players describe in the NWSL is not merely 'tough' coaching."
Notably, U.S. women's national team star Christen Press told the Washington Post's Molly Hensley-Clancy last November that Rory Dames, who was her coach with the Red Stars, created a "toxic environment."
She said then-president Sunil Gulati "dismissed her concerns."
Whisler was mentioned a number of times in the Yates report, including when he suggested National Team players had an "axe to grind" with Dames and were motivated by their desire for "this league to shut down."
He also dismissed concerns about Dames as "Rory being Rory" and never completed a full background check or due diligence of the coach before hiring him, per Yates' report. Witnesses said Whisler was long aware of Dames' verbal and emotional abuse and even declined to accept the coach's resignation offer amid the complaints against him.
Following the release of the report's findings, U.S. Soccer announced it would undertake a number of recommendations in an effort to improve player safety.
Among those recommendations is a mandate to create a "uniform minimum standard for background checks for all U.S. Soccer members" and "the creation of a new player-driven Participant Safety Taskforce to convene leaders in soccer at all levels across the country – from professional leagues to youth and grassroots clubs."
The Red Stars are preparing to start their NWSL postseason run after clinching the sixth and final seed with a 2-0 victory over Angel City on Sunday. They will face the San Diego Wave in the first round on Oct. 16.
The Chicago Red Stars owners released a statement Tuesday in the aftermath of a report from Molly Hensley-Clancy of the Washington Post that detailed multiple players' assertions that former head coach Rory Dames was verbally and emotionally abusive.
Dames resigned after Chicago lost to the Washington Spirit in Saturday's NWSL championship.
The statement was apologetic for the team's lack of actions after players came forward with concerns as early as 2014:
We apologize to Christen Press, Jennifer Hoy, Samantha Johnson and those players who didn't feel safe to come forward, and we are deeply sorry for the pain they endure.
As the owners of the Chicago Red Stars, we commit to holding ourselves accountable and to doing better. There is no place for any type of abuse in women's sports. The fact that it happened here, despite the belief that we had mechanisms in place to prevent it, means our club will require significant reflection and evaluation to ensure this does not happen again.
It also explained the team will seek out players' feedback in the search for a new coach and use stricter interview practices and background checks while vetting candidates.
"The Chicago Red Stars are motivated to be a part of positive change for the NWSL while also recognizing the ways in which we have contributed to a culture that did not sufficiently prioritize the health and safety of our players, and we commit to ensuring this team succeeds in years to come by being a player-centric organization," the statement continued.
Hensley-Clancy reported "players had seen Rory Dames cross a line into what they believed was verbal and emotional abuse: controlling, berating and humiliating players, and breaking the boundaries of the player-coach relationship."
Press, who played for the Red Stars from 2014 to 2017, said she raised concerns about Dames during a meeting with former president of U.S. Soccer Sunil Gulati in 2014.
"Gulati dismissed her concerns, Press recalled, by saying Dames's behavior was normal for a professional coach," Hensley-Clancy wrote. "Press, who said she had been told she needed to play in the NWSL to keep her spot on the national team, said she felt she had no choice but to return the next season."
While Dames kept his job, Press, who was one of multiple players who raised concerns about the coach, eventually filed a formal complaint about him with U.S. Soccer.
Yet he kept his job once again.
"He asserts control like you’re a little girl, not an adult woman—when you can go out to a concert, when you can say something or you can’t say something, when you can see your family," Press said. "It felt like it's a disrespect that is related to gender."
Hensley-Clancy noted Dames makes five male NWSL coaches who have been accused of misconduct in 2021 alone.
The NWSL Players Association reacted to the latest story by saying "nothing short of a complete transformation of our league will suffice":
In October, the NWSLPA released the following list of demands with the message: "Systemic transformation is not something you say. It is something you do. We, as players, are continuing our efforts to end the culture of silence and ask fans to stand with us as we demand the following."
The league announced it would start "several critical investigative and reform initiatives to protect players and staff, and the environments in which athletes live, train, and compete to give athletes the agency and ability to safely report misconduct of any form."
Members of the Chicago Red Stars told the U.S. Soccer Federation of their concerns about the behavior of now-former coach Rory Dames as early as 2014, according to the Washington Post's Molly Hensley-Clancy.
"Over and over, according to interviews and confidential records reviewed by The Post, players had seen Rory Dames cross a line into what they believed was verbal and emotional abuse: controlling, berating and humiliating players, and breaking the boundaries of the player-coach relationship," Hensley-Clancy wrote.
Dames continued to coach the Red Stars until his resignation Sunday, one day after Chicago's 2-1 defeat to the Washington Spirit in the NWSL championship.
Neil Buethe, a spokesman for U.S. Soccer, provided a statement to the Post:
We share the concerns about allegations of abusive behavior and sexual misconduct in women's professional soccer and are addressing this matter with the utmost urgency. Ms. [Sally] Yates's investigation is well underway and her team has been given full autonomy, access and necessary resources to follow the facts and evidence wherever they may lead.
The NWSL Players Association responded to the story by saying "the system has failed us" and that "nothing short of a complete transformation of our league will suffice":
Christen Press, who has made 155 appearances for the United States women's national team, spent four seasons with the Red Stars from 2014 to 2017. She told Hensley-Clancy that she spoke to then-U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati and other officials in 2014 about Dames creating a toxic environment and yelling at players in a harassing way.
Press said her concerns were dismissed:
But Gulati dismissed her concerns, Press recalled, saying Dames's behavior was normal for a professional coach. Press, who said she had been told she needed to play in the NWSL to keep her spot on the national team, said she felt she had no choice but to return the next season.
U.S. Soccer examined the matter again in 2018 after Press filed a formal complaint, in part saying she thought Dames "emotionally abuses players" and "doesn't have a safe distance between himself and his players."
The federation interviewed Press and some of her former teammates in Chicago. However, other players said they were unable to meet with investigators despite wanting to do so.
Hensley-Clancy wrote that U.S. Soccer again "took no apparent action."
Beyond examining U.S. Soccer's handling of the allegations, the report detailed how Dames allegedly treated his players.
Per Hensley-Clancy, he questioned whether a player was a good mother because she wasn't communicating well in practice. He also allegedly directed personal attacks toward players. Two players said he told an Asian player she should've been smarter, and two players said he called one player from the Appalachian region "trailer trash."
Four of Dames' former players told Hensley-Clancy how they felt he crossed the line in terms of his control on and off the pitch.
"He asserts control like you're a little girl, not an adult woman," Press said. "When you can go out to a concert, when you can say something or you can't say something, when you can see your family. It felt like it's a disrespect that is related to gender."
The allegations come as the NWSL is facing a reckoning over the atmosphere it fostered for players over the years.
North Carolina Courage coach Paul Riley was fired after The Athletic's Meg Linehan spoke to Sinead Farrelly, who said she felt coerced into having sex with Riley as part of a relationship beyond what is typical between a coach and player.
Another of his former players, Mana Shim, said Riley once pressured her and Farrelly to kiss each other in front of him. She also said he invited her to his hotel room for an informal film session and was wearing only his underwear when she arrived.
Riley denied both allegations.
Hensley-Clancy also wrote a pair of reports on the Spirit, first detailing how former players said coach Richie Burke verbally abused them and made racially insensitive remarks on multiple occasions.
She followed up with an investigation into the Spirit's workplace culture, one that alienated female employees because of a toxic atmosphere.
Lisa Baird resigned as the NWSL's commissioner in October, and the league said it was creating "several critical investigative and reform initiatives to protect players and staff, and the environments in which athletes live, train, and compete to give athletes the agency and ability to safely report misconduct of any form."
U.S. Soccer also announced it was commissioning an independent investigation, which was referenced by Buethe in his statement.
United States women's national soccer team and Chicago Red Stars teammates Casey Short and Julie Ertz shared an emotional moment as they, their teammates and their Washington Spirit opponents knelt in protest during the national anthem and for a moment of silence on Saturday.
Krista Ruch of Chicago's CBS affiliate shared the video:
The North Carolina Courage and Portland Thorns, who also took a knee, provided a joint statement regarding the protest:
"We took a knee today to protest racial injustice, police brutality and systemic racism against black people and people of color in America. We love our country and we have taken this opportunity to hold it to a higher standard. It is our duty to demand that the liberties and freedoms this nation was founded upon are extended to everyone."
Eight of the NWSL's nine teams are in Utah as part of the league's 2020 Challenge Cup, a 23-match competition serving as the organization's return to play following a suspension because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NWSL is the first American professional team sports organization to return to play since league suspensions and delays occurred en masse in March.
The Orlando Pride, the ninth team, is not participating in the Cup after six players and four staffers tested positive for COVID-19.
Short, who is a 2017 member of the NWSL's Best XI, has made 32 appearances for the USWNT. The defender played collegiately at Florida State.
Ertz, a two-time World Cup winner, was named U.S. Soccer's Female Player of the Year in 2017 and 2019.
