OL Reign forward Megan Rapinoe on Thursday called for ownership changes for the Portland Thorns FC and the Chicago Red Stars following the release of a report detailing systemic abuse in the NWSL. The investigative report released Monday by former acting U.S. Attorney General Sally Q. Yates detailed accounts of sexism, racism, homophobia, sexual and verbal assault found throughout the league.
“Without people who specifically did the wrong thing being gone, that just says to us that nobody is really hearing us,” said Rapinoe during a U.S. Women’s National Team news conference. “I don’t think that Merritt Paulson is fit to be the owner of that team (Portland). I don’t think Arnim (Whisler) is fit to be the owner of Chicago.”
Paulson, who also owns the Portland Timbers, announced Wednesday he’s stepped back from decision-making with the Thorns, while executives Gavin Wilkinson and Mike Golub were removed from their positions with the Thorns and Timbers.
Whisler said Tuesday he would remove himself from the NWSL board of governors. On Wednesday he was voted out as chairperson of the board for the Red Stars.
In a team statement, the club said it will transition Whisler “out of his board seat immediately with the Chicago Red Stars (Chicago Women’s Soccer Academy, LLC) and to codify his removal from any further participation with either club or board operations.” CBS Sports reported that will include the sale of Whisler’s shares in the team.
Rapinoe spoke from London where the USWNT will play England in a friendly before an expected record crowd of more than 85,000 at Wembley Stadium on Friday. She surmised the systemic abuse and misconduct Yates’ yearlong investigation uncovered is likely global.
The USWNT is slated to play Spain on Tuesday. The latter had 15 players left off the national team roster after they reportedly complained to the federation of mismanaged injuries and toxic work environment under current coach Jorge Vilda.
Rapinoe would like to see FIFA, the sport’s governing body for men and women, help to implement policies that are required worldwide.
“It’s uncomfortable to know the general level of disrespect for women’s teams and women’s players around the world,” Rapinoe said. “I really feel for those (Spanish) players. I hope that there’s some sort of dialogue happening. It seems absurd and asinine to (dismiss) 15 of your best players. … They should be sitting down and having conversations and at least listening to the players and it doesn’t seem like they’re doing that at all.”
Multiple USWNT players are working to balance the complexity of the week. The Yates report is disheartening, but Friday’s match could be career defining despite it not having any tournament implications.
England won the 2022 UEFA women’s EURO title at Wembley in July, while the USWNT is the reigning FIFA women’s World Cup champion, winning the championship in France in 2019.
“As a minority, this isn’t new,” said OL Reign and USWNT defender Alana Cook, a Black woman, addressing the Yates report during a news conference on Tuesday. “These hostile conditions are now being unearthed and publicly revealed, but it’s things we’ve been dealing with the entirety of our careers. We’ve gotten to this point because we have learned how to deal with the difficulties surrounding what we do and the difficulties in our lives and being able to still perform.”
