According to then-NWSL commissioner Jeff Plush, Wilkinson merely brought up the 'human resource issue' and told Lines that Riley had been 'put in a bad position by the player.' Wilkinson confirmed that he told Lines that Riley was a good coach, and that he'd hire him again. Riley did not mesh well with all of the personalities in the locker room.” The Flash told Yates' investigative team that “the only negative reference made during the conversation was a comment from Mr. That winter, when the Western New York Flash began considering Riley as a coaching candidate, Wilkinson spoke with Flash vice president Aaran Lines. Seven days later, the Thorns fired Riley, but publicly stated that they'd simply chosen not to renew his contract. 16, 2015 email from then-Thorns player Mana Shim, in which she detailed Riley's persistent and unwanted advances, his retaliation against her when she asked him to stop, and a specific night when he brought Shim and another player, Sinead Farrelly, back to his apartment and pressured them to kiss each other. He and Paulson were direct recipients of a Sept. Wilkinson featured prominently in one section of the report. Story continues Gavin Wilkinson fired after covering up sexual harassment Sponsors were also reportedly re-evaluating their partnerships with the club in the wake of the report, which detailed new allegations of verbal, emotional and sexual misconduct at the highest levels of women's soccer, and revealed that coaches, executives and NWSL team owners - including Paulson - 'failed' countless players. Early Tuesday morning, after reading the Yates report, a coalition of Thorns and Timbers supporters groups said they'd be 'suspending relations' with both teams as long as Paulson, Wilkinson and Golub remained in charge. Soccer official who has repeatedly failed the players and failed to protect the players, who have hidden behind legalities, and have not participated fully in these investigations, should be gone.'įans of both the Thorns and Timbers - who play in the National Women's Soccer League and Major League Soccer, respectively - have also repeatedly called on the club to fire Wilkinson, and on Paulson to sell. women's national team captain Becky Sauerbrunn told reporters that 'every owner and executive and U.S. The firings come one day after Thorns and U.S.

But he remains the owner of the Timbers, and did not say that he would sell the team. He said in a statement Tuesday that he would remove himself from all Thorns-related decision making until a separate investigation commissioned by the NWSL and its players association is complete. Team owner Merritt Paulson also helped conceal the allegations against Riley, and contributed to the 'toxic' atmosphere.

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