Megan Rapinoe and Sarina Wiegman on the “horrifying” NWSL abuse report
US soccer has been marred by reports of verbal, emotional, and sexual abuse of players on the women’s national team.
Ahead of the US women’s friendly against England on Friday, US star Megan Rapinoe spoke about the reports of abuse within the National Women’s Soccer League and how it can be seen as an opportunity to make a change.
“From the entire landscape of women’s sports, nobody ever wants to see anything like this,” said Rapinoe. “But hopefully this can be a moment in time when you say, ‘none of this ever happens again’.”
The report, which includes horrific allegations of sexual abuse and assault, made claims against coaches Paul Riley, Rory Dames, and Christy Holly, all of whom deny all accusations. One of the most regrettable parts of this story is that no one seems to be surprised. The fact that it took so long for anything to come out or be done about this ongoing abuse is a testament to the reasons so many women do not speak up at all. Rapinoe herself emphasized though, that some of the women did not even realize they were being abused.
“You can look at it now and say, ‘Well, how do you not know that he’s calling you all these names?’ But, that’s how it happens. You don’t know that it’s happening,” Rapinoe said. “So being aware of those signs, what language is appropriate and what language is inappropriate.”
Rapinoe also emphasized the need for a system which actually implements some kind of change when these reports come out.
“From FIFA’s standpoint, as the stewards of the game, I think they have a responsibility to do everything in their power to assure that every player is in a safe environment when they want to play,” Rapinoe said.
England show their support to US Women’s Soccer
Ahead of the friendly against England, the players and coaches on their side have extended their support to the women of the US league. Rapinoe said “it means everything” to have their words of encouragement.
“I don’t think this is just a problem in the USA. I think it’s a worldwide problem still,” said England coach Sarina Wiegman. “And it’s just really the time now that we all step up, and we just can stop these things.”
England player Beth Mead said she was “sickened” to hear about the situation. Rapinoe, Wiegman, and Mead all agree that more needs to be done, and that it happened at all is unacceptable, and that it should never happen again.
“Women need to be taken seriously a lot more,” said Mead. “I’m very proud of the victims that actually stood up and said it. People need to start doing better. The US governing body needs to be doing better. Worldwide, we need to be doing better.”
When the report first came out, US Soccer president Cindy Parlow Cone confirmed that every member of the US Soccer organization will now have to go through a background check before joining and that there will be a safety task force led by the players.