2 fired after Women football abuse report fall out

PORTLAND - Portland Thorns fired two key executives on Wednesday after a report said abuse was rampant in the top-flight US National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).

The Thorns said they had dismissed President of Soccer Gavin Wilkinson and President of Business Mike Golub, and the pair had also been axed from their roles with the team’s Major League Soccer counterparts, the Portland Timbers.

Team owner Merritt Paulson said on Tuesday he would remove himself from ‘Thorns-related decision making’after the independent report by former US Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates said the team was not transparent about accusations of abuse against a coach after terminating his contract in 2015.

Systematic

Meanwhile, England forward Beth Mead said she was ‘sickened’ by the results of the report which found systematic abuse in the National Women’s Soccer League and said that England players were in contact with United States players to find a way to show support in their friendly today.

The investigation into player abuse found a long list of failures by NWSL coaches and executives, as well as the United States Soccer Federation itself. The report cited systematic ‘verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct ... spanning multiple teams, coaches, and victims’.

England boss Sarina Wiegman echoed Mead’s displeasure with the report findings and said it is time to ‘step up’ to stop abuse from happening. “My first reaction is that’s horrible, unacceptable,” Wiegman said. “I feel very sorry for all the survivors and it should stop immediately, of course. I think it’s a worldwide problem still. I think it’s time we will step up and stop these things.”