Dec. 7, 2022 — Is the NWSL turning an possession nook?

Final week, each the Chicago Crimson Stars and the Portland Thorns, two NWSL franchises who had been held in disrepute over the past two years by the sexual scandals which have roiled the nation’s prime professional ladies’s soccer league, introduced potential modifications in possession.

The Crimson Stars are owned by Armin Whisler, who was blamed within the Yates Report for his inactivity when it got here to the conduct of Rory Dames. Dames had been accused of sexual misconduct relationship again to 1998 and his time in teaching youth soccer.

Because of information tales, Whisler stepped away from the staff in early October and has already sought a dealer to facilitate the sale of the staff.

Out west, the Thorns’ majority shareholder, Merritt Paulson, introduced that he can be promoting the NWSL facet, whereas preserving his majority stake within the MLS’s Portland Timbers. Paulson had come below scrutiny for the best way the staff had employed Paul Riley, who had his personal sordid sexual historical past involving gamers below his watch.

These gross sales are coming solely days earlier than a joint report by NWSL and the NWSL Gamers’ Affiliation is to be launched, and it’s one which can go even additional than the Yates Report in declaring systemic failures that allowed identified predators to grow to be skilled coaches within the league.