Former National Women's Soccer League players Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim have broken their silence on their allegations of sexual harassment and coercion against fired coach Paul Riley — problems that Shim says are widespread across the sport.
'He's a predator,' Shim told NBC's Today Show during a Tuesday morning interview with Farrelly and former US national team captain Alex Morgan. 'He sexually harassed me. He sexually coerced Sinead. He took away our careers.'
Riley, the head coach of the NWSL's North Carolina Courage, was fired last week over allegations of sexual harassment, sexual coercion and inappropriate comments about players' weight and sexual orientation dating back more than a decade. Since the claims were revealed by The Athletic last week, the NWSL called off its weekend games and commissioner Lisa Baird stepped down Friday night.
Riley, now 58, told The Athletic the allegations were 'completely untrue,' adding that he's 'never had sex with or made sexual advances towards these players.'
Shim says she first complained about Riley in 2015 when she played for him on the Portland Thorns. But while the team declined to re-sign him when his contract expired, he was still hired by the NWSL's Western New York Flash the following season and by the Courage in 2017.
Echoing statements by Morgan, Shim said the issue is systemic within women's soccer.
'I'm just so grateful for this opportunity to get these bad people out of the league and really shine a light on this issue, because it's so prevalent,' she said. 'It's just not this team, it's not just this coach. It's across the league, it's across the sport, and we have to do something about it.'
Sinead Farrelly claims she was sexually harassed and coerced by former coach Paul Riley
Mana Shim says she first complained about Riley in 2015 when she played for him on the Portland Thorns. But while the team declined to re-sign him when his contract expired, he was still hired by the NWSL's Western New York Flash the next season and by the Courage in 2017
Alex Morgan told NBC that the NWSL wasn't equipped to handle sexual harassment claims
Paul Riley (pictured), the head coach of the North Carolina Courage of the National Women's Soccer League, has been fired amid allegations of sexual harassment, sexual coercion and inappropriate comments about players' weight and sexual orientation
Both Shim and Farrelly claim Riley often took them drinking and used those moments to pressure them into sex. In one alleged 2012 incident, Riley, a Liverpool native who was 47 and married at the time, took Farrelly and another player to his hotel room and had sex with both of them.
Riley's refrain, which Farrelly said she often repeated to herself after having sex with her coach, was that they would be 'taking this to their graves.'
The NWSL also launched an independent investigation Sunday into its handling of abuse claims. Both FIFA and US Soccer Federation (USSF) opened investigations into why he was able to continue coaching even after the players brought their concerns to the league.
According to Morgan, who played with Shim and for Riley in Portland, the issue was that the league was ill-equipped to handle these allegations.
'When I look back, I tried to be as good a friend and teammate as possible to Shim in helping her file a complaint, when at the time there was no anti-harassment policy in place, there was no league HR, there was no anonymous hotline, there was no way to report,' Morgan told NBC.
'We've now started to put these things in place, by demand of players, not by the league being proactive. Something we ask is for the league to start being proactive, not reactive. We're asking for transparency.'
Both Farrelly and Shim spoke frankly about the impact Riley's alleged abuse had on their careers and personal wellbeing.
'I think it's just really important, and why we wanted to share our story and share in so much detail the damage that was done to our careers, but who we are as people,' Farrelly said. 'The damage to my self confidence and how I saw myself, it seeps into every part of your livelihood.
'There is a lot of loss that comes with that, and things I will not get back. I think we can tap into the emotional impact of just showing up to try and be your authentic self, it can really hit home for a lot of people because it's bigger than the sport. This is about safety in our own lives and in our bodies. The players deserve that. We all deserve that. That's something that we all will fight for.'
Riley's dismissal followed a bombshell report on Thursday by The Athletic , which details the allegations made by former players Sinead Farrelly (left) and Mana Shim (right). Farrelly told The Athletic that there were multiple occasions in which she felt coerced into having sex with Riley, a decorated coach who reportedly had been considered for US national team duties. Shim, a former Thorns player, also allegedly experienced harassment, including one incident in which she says Riley asked her to kiss a teammate at his apartment on the condition that he would drop grueling conditioning exercises at the following practice
Both said they were extremely grateful to get support from fans and other players, such as Morgan.
'I'm so overcome with gratitude at everyone who spoke out and supported us,' Shim said. 'I feel very, deeply sad and heartbroken about what happened, and it's bringing up a lot of feelings that I was sitting with for years, but they were dormant.
'I want more justice,' she continued. 'I want
