A Washington Post story published on Monday features several former players accusing now-former Chicago Red Stars head coach Rory Dames of abuse while at the Red Stars. Dames resigned late Sunday night without warning after 11 years at the helm and a day after the NWSL Championship match.
Included in the article is an interview with former Red Stars player Christen Press whom the Post cites is one of seven players Dames ’emotionally abused’ leading some of them to be traded.
“I think Rory emotionally abuses players,” said Press in notes compiled for a formal complaint about Dames, which was reviewed by The Post. “He doesn’t have a safe distance between himself and his players. He uses his power and status as the coach to manipulate players and get close to them.
“Things were happening that were inappropriate, but I’d been told to be quiet, that this was fine.”
Press played for the Red Stars as an allocated player by US Soccer from 2014 to 2017 before heading to Kopparbergs/Göteborg FC of Sweden in 2018 and returning to the NWSL with the Utah Royals later that year. After a stint with Manchester United, she is set to return to the league to play for new club Angel City FC in 2022.
US Soccer said earlier this year that it would launch its own investigation of the NWSL, led by Sally Q. Yates, the former acting attorney general. US Soccer spokesman Neil Buethe said that the federation would make the results of the investigation public but that it could not comment on specific allegations until the investigation was concluded. He noted that US Soccer is under “new leadership” that has been in place since 2020.
“We share the concerns about allegations of abusive behavior and sexual misconduct in women’s professional soccer and are addressing this matter with the utmost urgency,” Buethe said in a statement to the post. “Ms. Yates’s investigation is well underway and her team has been given full autonomy, access and necessary resources to follow the facts and evidence wherever they may lead.”
On Monday night, the NWSL Players’ Association released a statement standing by Press and mentioned additional former Red Stars players Jen Hoy and Samantha Johnson. The statement reads as follows:
“This type of coaching has no place in the NWSL, youth soccer or anywhere else. We stand with Christen Press, Jen Hoy, Sam Johnson and any player who comes forward to speak out against abuse of any kind.
We have said it before and will say it again now: the system has failed us. Through our investigation, we will seek out the root causes of these systematic failures to prevent this from happening to future generations.
Nothing short of a complete transformation of our league will suffice.”
Shortly after that, the Red Stars released a statement of its own:
“We stand with the players who are fiercely advocating for change, and we are committed to doing our part to ensure a safe environment for the League’s players, staff, volunteers and fans.
In conjunction with our players, the Chicago Red Stars several weeks ago initiated an independent review of player health and safety and the team’s culture and work environment.
We intend to implement any recommendations in that review that will strengthen our ability to empower our players, to ensure that everyone’s voice is heard, and to foster an environment of continual growth.”
Dames is the sixth coach or executive to resign or be sacked in the NWSL this year for reasons not pertaining to results on the pitch. They include OL Reign coach Farid Benstiti, Gotham FC general manager (and former Red Stars GM) Alyse LaHue, Racing Louisville FC coach Christy Holly, Washington Spirit coach Richie Burke, and North Carolina Courage coach Paul Riley.
In addition, Spirit owner Steve Baldwin announced his intention to sell the club over his alleged mishandling of the matter related to Burke.
The Red Stars’ majority owner, Arnim Whisler, was aware of the 2018 investigation against Dames at the time, two people with knowledge of the investigation said, and was informed by investigators of some of the players’ allegations as part of an interview. Whisler did not respond to requests for an interview to the Post or the Chicago Tribune.
(Editor’s note: Prost Amerika will continue to monitor this ongoing story and will post new details as they become available.)
