Arts & Entertainment

Women’s Soccer League Creates $5M Player Fund After Abuse Scandal Involving Chicago Red Stars

Since shocking revelations detailing ignored substantiated reports of mistreatment and abuse, Chicago’s professional women’s soccer team has changed owners, coaches and even its name.

Going forward, the Chicago Stars FC will also be under new legal obligations as part of a groundbreaking settlement that requires the National Women’s Soccer League to create a $5 million restitution fund, announced Wednesday by the attorneys general of Illinois, New York and the District of Columbia. Those offices jointly began investigating the reports of abuse within the league in 2022.

“Today is about much more than a monetary settlement. Today marks the first time these players receive a commitment that there are procedures in place to ensure this abuse does not happen again,” Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said. “I commend all of the players who spoke up knowing that you would face retaliation. This settlement that protects you, players throughout the league, and women who have yet to join the league, is your doing.”

Director of the NWSL Players Association Meghann Burke said to protect members’ privacy, she would not disclose how many players are expected to seek compensation.

Protocols all teams must comply with include having “multiple mechanisms” for reporting misconduct that are not left to the teams themselves to investigate, the hiring a dedicated human resources officer or department and a psychiatrist or psychologist, and holding annual training on preventing harassment and bullying.

The Chicago Stars FC, until last year called the Red Stars, did not respond to questions about their levels of compliance with the new mandates.

But Burke said many provisions of the settlement are already in place as a result of changes like the hiring a league safety officer after reports about problems within the NWSL were made public and as part of the union’s collective bargaining agreement.

“I credit the growth of the league and the tremendous rapid, soaring attendance and viewership to creating a healthier and safer work environment already,” Burke said.

Members of the women-led investor team that bought into the Stars say they have a passion for transforming the team’s culture into one where players can thrive.

“They (Stars players) deserve more, and they’re gonna get it. They’re gonna get it under this ownership group,” lead owner Laura Ricketts said in a 2023 interview with CBS Sports about purchasing the team.

In response to a reporters’ question about the settlement, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said, “these women deserve all the protection in the world that we can provide” and that he believes owners like Ricketts have “stepped up” and “are doing good work” to protect players.

Abuse allegations weren’t singular to the Red Stars, though the situation in Chicago, which until 2022 was also home for the NWSL, is emblematic of the issues driving the settlement.

Raoul said players had reported former coach Rory Dames for “sexist and racist verbal harassment and extremely unprofessional relationships with players, thereby creating a hostile work environment. They indicated that he repeatedly made sexual remarks about players’ appearances and texted them after hours.”  They also alleged he referred to Black players as “thugs.”

Then-owner Arnim Whisler “dismissed the complaints as personal vendettas by players who did not start or play the way they wanted to, or who wanted to shut down the National Women’s Soccer League so they could make money overseas,” Raoul said.

Even after the U.S. Soccer Federation opened an investigation into those complaints, Raoul said it failed to share its troubling findings with the NWSL and the league likewise didn’t follow up with the federation, “and thereby neglected its responsibility to protect the players,” allowing Dames to “continue his pattern of harassment and retaliation” until he resigned in 2021, just before a Washington Post report went public.

In his resignation statement, Dames said he was “refocusing” his attention on his family.               

Burke said players who spoke out about abuse deserve credit for the reforms brought about since the reckoning.

“Players risked everything to tell the truth,” Burke said. “They did so at great personal cost. Not because they wanted to tear our league down, but because they believed so passionately in its potential. Your courage has transformed this sport to all the players, named or unnamed, who spoke out when nothing was promised but it was so desperately needed.”

The settlement does not preclude a player from independently suing, New York Attorney General Letitia James said.

“Restitution will depend on a variety of issues, and it’s based upon specific circumstances,” James said.

D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb said the claims process gives victims an avenue for financial redress without having to relive trauma in a public trial.

“People can remain confidential in their complaints, and the players who have been so badly harmed can obtain compensation without a long, lengthy, expensive litigation process,” he said.

James said the $5 million, funded by NWSL, was based on “current and former players who experienced discrimination, harassment, sexual, physical or emotional abuse or retaliation at the hands of a coach or someone in power at NWSL” and that she expects the amount will cover all claims, potentially leaving a surplus that could be “dedicated to specific purposes for women in sports.”

Twice a year, teams and the league have to submit reports to the attorneys general to prove compliance.

The NWSL did not directly respond to a request for comment, but in a statement posted on its website, Commissioner Jessica Berman said the league is grateful to “brave individuals” whose shared experiences led to “systemic reform.”

“The NWSL is proud of the work we have done, in partnership with the NWSL Players Association, to set the standard for professional sports leagues,” the statement reads. “We will continue to do the work necessary to maintain the trust of our players and build an ecosystem where the best in the world want to come.”

The Chicago Stars FC currently play games at Bridgeview’s SeatGeek stadium. As the Bears and White Sox have made pitches for state support to relocate, the Stars — in the market for their own new training center and stadium — have advocated for ensuring that if it happens, women’s sports teams also get funding. 

Contact Amanda Vinicky: @AmandaVinicky | [email protected]

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