Who tried to blackmail Gregg Berhalter and US Soccer with information about the coach’s past?
Claudio Reyna’s wife sent the messages after his son, Borussia Dortmund player Gio Reyna, was informed he would play less of a role than expected in Qatar.
According to The Athletic, Danielle Reyna, wife of former USA player Claudio Reyna and mother of Gio Reyna, sent multiple messages to US Soccer executives during the 2022 World Cup threatening to reveal sensitive details about USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter.
The wife of former United States men’s national team captain and midfielder, Claudio, sent the messages after her son, Borussia Dortmund player Gio, was informed he would play less of a role than expected with the US in Qatar. Danielle Reyna was a college roommate of Berhalter’s wife, Rosalind and called US Soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart about the incident in 1991.
The US Soccer federation received the details about the claims on 11 December, when Stewart was informed by Reyna Sr and his wife Danielle, that Berhalter had a past domestic violence incident.
The call between the parties took place on the same day as Berhalter made comments at the HOW Institute for Society’s Summit on Moral Leadership in New York. The comments were published by Charterworks and revealed how a USMNT player was nearly sent home from the World Cup for not meeting the required expectations.
Mrs Reyna was also a soccer teammate of Rosalind Berhalter at UNC. “To set the record straight, I did call (U.S. Soccer sporting director) Earnie Stewart on December 11, just after the news broke that Gregg had made negative statements about my son Gio at a leadership conference,” she said in a statement.
“I have known Earnie for years and consider him to be a close friend. I wanted to let him know that I was absolutely outraged and devasted that Gio had been put in such a terrible position, and that I felt very personally betrayed by the actions of someone my family had considered a friend for decades.”
The US head coach Berhalter, 49, did not identify anyone by name, but he was referring to Gio Reyna and it was confirmed by the player on Instagram the following day.
Berhalter issues statement
Earlier this week Berhalter revealed details of the incident with his wife in a statement on Twitter.
“During the World Cup an individual contacted U.S. Soccer, saying that they had information about me that would ‘take me down’ - an apparent effort to leverage something very personal from long ago to bring about the end of my relationship with U.S. Soccer,” Berhalter said.
“In the fall of 1991, I met my soulmate. I had just turned 18 and was a freshman in college when I met Rosalind,” Berhalter said.
“One night, while out drinking at a local bar, Rosalind and I had a heated argument that continued outside. It became physical and I kicked her in the legs.”