米女子サッカーのセクハラ問題、クラブオーナーが「組織的過ち」謝罪

【ロサンゼルスＡＦＰ＝時事】米ナショナル・ウーマンズ・サッカーリーグ（ＮＷＳＬ）、ポートランド・ソーンズＦＣのオーナー、メリット・ポールソン氏は４日、クラブの元監督であるポール・ライリー氏（５８）による性的不正行為への対応について、被害者の元選手２人への謝罪文を発表した。（写真は米ナショナル・ウーマンズ・サッカーリーグ〈ＮＷＳＬ〉、ノースカロライナ・カレッジの監督を解任されたポール・ライリー氏）
　ポールソン氏はクラブの公式ウェブサイトに投稿した公開書簡の中で、２０１５年にライリー氏を解雇した理由をもっと明確にすべきだったとし、説明責任と透明性の欠如やその後の対応が「女子プロサッカーリーグに広がった組織的な過ち」を示していると述べた。
　さらに「当時われわれは、ライリー氏との契約を打ち切ったことを明確にせず、契約を更改しないと不明瞭な発表をした。それは、選手のプライバシーを尊重するために正しいと思ってしたことだった」と強調し、「われわれのせいで、女子プロサッカーリーグに明らかな組織的過ちが広がってしまったことを深く悔やんでいる」と謝罪した。
　オーナーはまた、当時クラブに所属していたシネイド・ファレリー氏とミレーナ・シム氏から疑惑の告発があったことを受け、内部調査を行ってその結果をＮＷＳＬに通知したと明かした。
　しかし、ソーンズが調査結果を公表しなかったことによって、ライリー氏の解雇理由は成績不振だったと人々に思わせたとの認識を示した。
　この問題をめぐっては前週、米ウェブサイトのジ・アスレチックで、ノースカロライナ・カレッジを先日解雇された英国出身のライリー氏が、２０１０年から複数のクラブやリーグで行っていた広範な不正が詳細に報道されていた。
　ライリー氏の下で別々の３クラブでプレーしていた経験があるファレリー氏は、フィラデルフィア・インディペンデンス時代に「性行為を強要」されたと記事で訴えていた。
　それによると、ＮＷＳＬの前身である米女子プロサッカーリーグ（ＷＰＳ）の２０１１年シーズン決勝で敗れた後、同氏はライリー氏の部屋を訪れた際に性行為を強要され、このことは「２人で墓場まで持っていくことにしよう」と言われたという。
　また、ソーンズ時代には、ライリー氏のアパートでシム氏とのキスを無理強いされたといい、「あの男はそれがお決まりだった」と語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2021/10/06-11:47）

Portland Thorns owner Merritt Paulson issued an apology on Monday to two ex-players for his team's role in the handling of sexual coercion allegations against former soccer coach Paul Riley.
Paulson said the team should have been more open about the sacking of Riley in 2015 and that a lack of accountability and transparency and the subsequent inaction that followed shows a systemic failure across women's professional soccer.
?We then made an opaque announcement about not renewing Riley?s contract as opposed to explicitly announcing his termination, guided by what we, at the time, thought was the right thing to do out of respect for player privacy,? Paulson wrote in an open letter on the team's website on Monday. ?I deeply regret our role in what is clearly a systemic failure across women?s professional soccer.?
Paulson said the Thorns didn?t disclose the investigation publicly, which led people to believe Riley's dismissal was the result of poor results on the field.
He said the Thorns conducted an internal investigation into Riley after then-players Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim made the alleged accusations. He said the club notified the National Women's Soccer League of the results of their investigation.
Ultimately, we could have done more. I apologize to Mana, Sinead and everyone else who is hurting as a result, he wrote.
We applaud not only their bravery in coming forward, but their determination to be heard. It should not have been this hard, nor taken this long, at great personal and professional toll to the survivors, Paulson added.
Paulson's letter comes in the wake of The Athletic's reporting last week detailing wide-ranging sexual misconduct by the 58-year-old Englishman Riley, spanning multiple teams and leagues since 2010.
Farrelly, who played for Riley at three different teams, accused the coach of sexual coercion while he was her coach at the Philadelphia Independence.
She said she had been coerced into having sex with the coach after going to his hotel room following a defeat in the Women's Professional Soccer League final in 2011. Riley told her we're taking this to our graves after the incident.
In another incident during his reign with the Thorns, Farrelly and Shim said Riley forced them to kiss each other while at his apartment. This guy has a pattern, Shim told The Athletic.
Portland teammate and national team star Alex Morgan, who played under Riley at the same time, backed the players' allegations and said she had tried to help them file a report with the league.
I am sickened and have too many thoughts to share at this moment, Morgan wrote in a tweet on Thursday.
Bottom line: protect your players. Do the right thing NWSL.
Riley went on to become the coach of the North Carolina Courage after the Thorns sacked him. The Courage fired Riley last week.
- Denies wrongdoing -
In a statement to The Athletic, Riley denied wrongdoing, describing the allegations as completely untrue.
I have never had sex with, or made sexual advances towards these players, he told the website.
The league's player's union, the NWSLPA, said in an earlier tweet that systemic abuse was plaguing the NWSL.
Words cannot adequately capture our anger, pain, sadness and disappointment, the NWSLPA said.
The NWSL announced Sunday it had retained a lawyer to oversee a number of investigations. That move came two days after the league sacked commissioner Lisa Baird.