Updated: 10:09 p.m.
After a week where two of its head coaches were fired, the National Women鈥檚 Soccer League has at the request of .
Additionally, NWSL commissioner Lisa Baird resigned Friday night. The a brief statement confirming her resignation after it was . The league's general counsel, Lisa Levine, was also ousted, according to .
North Carolina Courage coach Paul Riley was fired Thursday following a lengthy investigative , where multiple former players accused the 58-year-old of sexual coercion and other instances of sexual misconduct. Riley denied the allegations in an email to the Athletic, but has not spoken publicly since his firing. The U.S. Soccer Federation also suspended his coaching license.
Earlier in the week, the Washington Spirit fired coach Richie Burke after an NWSL investigation revealed that he violated the league鈥檚 anti-harassment policy. The investigation was sparked by a in August, outlining Burke鈥檚 pattern of verbal and emotional abuse of players.
鈥淭his week, and much of this season, has been incredibly traumatic for our players and staff, and I take full responsibility for the role I have played," Baird said in a statement Friday before she resigned. "I am so sorry for the pain so many are feeling. Recognizing that trauma, we have decided not to take the field this weekend to give everyone some space to reflect. Business as usual isn鈥檛 our concern right now. Our entire league has a great deal of healing to do, and our players deserve so much better.
She added: "We have made this decision in collaboration with our players association and this pause will be the first step as we collectively work to transform the culture of this league, something that is long overdue.鈥�
Baird was the subject of criticism because it was revealed in the Athletic story that players contacted the commissioner directly earlier this year with their concerns about Riley. Baird responded via email by saying that a 2015 investigation into Riley's behavior had been "investigated to conclusion." The email by national team forward Alex Morgan.
A former chief marketing officer for the U.S. Olympic Committee and a senior vice president for the NFL, Baird became commissioner of the NWSL in February 2020.
Before Baird's resignation became official, U.S. Soccer announced that it would launch an independent investigation into the allegations against Riley. The former Courage coach is currently barred from participating in any event organized or sponsored by U.S. Soccer.
— U.S. Soccer (@ussoccer)
FIFA that it was "looking into the matter."
Reporters of the Athletic story say they spoke with more than a dozen players representing every team Riley has coached since 2010, and 10 other sources within women鈥檚 soccer. Sinead Farrelly and Meleana Shim spoke on the record with the Athletic, claiming Riley coerced them into sex and sexual acts when they played for professional teams he coached in Philadelphia, Long Island and Portland.
Former U.S. women鈥檚 national team icon Mia Hamm on Riley 鈥渉orrifying and disturbing鈥� and added that 鈥渓eadership鈥� failed Farrelly and Shim. Hamm, a former UNC women鈥檚 soccer standout, is also the co-owner of the Los Angeles-based Angel City FC expansion club.
The NWSL Players Association on Thursday demanded a 鈥渘ew, independent investigation鈥� into Riley. He had been the coach of the Courage since they moved to Cary, North Carolina from Buffalo, New York, in 2017. The Courage won a pair of NWSL Championships under his watch. The players' association concluded their of demands by saying, 鈥淭he NWSL has failed us. We are taking our power back.鈥�
In addition to the Courage vs. Spirit game 鈥� which was scheduled to be shown to a nationwide streaming audience on Paramount+ on Friday night鈥� the other postponed games include: Racing Louisville FC vs. Gotham FC, Chicago Red Stars vs. Orlando Pride, Kansas City vs. Houston Dash, and Portland Thorns FC vs. OL Reign.
Make-up dates for the games have not been announced.
