Cordoba. Years of emotional abuse and sexual harassment. This is the grim picture painted by an independent NWSL investigation.
The US Federation has promised action and it is not too late, according to Sweden national team star Sofia Jacobson.
Sadly, it took so long when people learned about it and did nothing.
Last fall, soccer players Manna Shim and Sinead Farrelly chose to publicly accuse coach Paul Riley of harassment. Something that made Sweden captain Caroline Seger, who Riley coached, react aggressively.
– I hope he loses everything he has, Seger told Sportbladet.
Riley denied the allegations but was fired from his club, North Carolina Braves, and league commissioner Lisa Bird resigned.
Subsequently, the US Soccer Federation decided to conduct an independent investigation.
“Terrible of course”
It now states that emotional abuse and sexual harassment is systematic within the NBA and that it affects many teams, players and coaches.
“Abuse in the NFL is deeply rooted in a youth league culture that normalizes verbal abuse by coaches and blurs the lines between coach and player,” wrote former US attorney general Sally Q. Yates.
Sophia Jacobson She plays at San Diego Wave, but is currently in Spain with the Swedish national team, and is following developments.
– Terrible of course. It is good that there is a report and good that they have conducted such a big investigation from youth level to professional level.
The star of the national team celebrates the courage of those who dared to speak, but strongly doubts everyone who knew what happened all these years but did not say anything.
– Incredibly sad what happened and incredibly strong for the players who came forward and said what happened so there could be an improvement, she says and continues:
– I heard that some were expelled in their positions. Those who sat down and knew and did nothing and this is very important. I don’t think it would have happened any other way, but sadly it took so long when people found out about it and did nothing.
“If you know it, you have to act”
Among those featured in the reports was former national team captain Jill Ellis. According to the information, you should have known about the abuse but it was clear that you are not allowed to play in the national team if you do not play in the national football league.
Now Ellis is the president of San Diego and Wave Jacobson, but since Jacobson hasn’t read anything about her, she doesn’t want to comment on whether or not she can stay in office.
“But if you know that, I think you should act because terrible things have happened to the players,” says Jacobson.