Courage fire coach Paul Riley following very serious allegations of misconduct

The North Carolina Courage fired head coach Paul Riley effective immediately following "very serious allegations of misconduct," the team announced Thursday. U.S. Soccer later announced it had suspended Riley's coaching license.

The moves come after former players accused the prominent coach of sexual coercion spanning multiple teams and leagues since 2010 in a story by The Athletic's Meg Linehan.

"The Courage support the players who have come forward and we commend them for bravely sharing their stories," the statement reads. "The North Carolina Football Club is united together in our commitment to creating a safe, positive, and respectful environment, not only within our club but across the league and our great sport. As previously stated, players and staff are encouraged to report any inappropriate behavior in accordance with NWSL policy as we prioritize efforts to maintain the highest professional standards of conduct throughout our organization."

Sean Nahas has been named interim head coach for the remainder of the season, effective today.

League president Lisa Baird released a statement Thursday, saying, “I was shocked and disgusted to read the new allegations reported in The Athletic this morning. The league, in concert with the North Carolina Courage, has reacted swiftly in response to these new allegations, and former head coach Paul Reilly has been terminated."

The statement also outlined a new anonymous reporting process, plans to mandate training conducted by the U.S. Center for SafeSport for league and team staff and said they are reporting the allegations to the U.S. Center for SafeSport for investigation.

The Portland Thorns released a statement, followed by an apology to Shim and Farrelly.

"We want to thank Mana Shim and Sinead Farrelly for bravely speaking out and fully apologize to them for our role in the abuse they detailed," the team posted to its Twitter account.

In its statement, the Thorns, one of the teams under which players said Riley's behavior occurred, said there was information in The Athletic's story "that we are first hearing about now."

"We take all complaints about harassment extremely seriously," the statement reads. "Immediately upon receiving a complaint from a player in 2015, we conducted a thorough investigation advised by an outside law firm and placed Riley on administrative leave. While the findings did not show unlawful activity, they did uncover clear violations of our company policies. Based on this, we chose to sever ties with Riley. The findings of the investigation were fully shared with the NWSL league office," the statement said in part.

U.S. Soccer said in its statement that it was "deeply disturbed" by the allegations against Riley, adding, "U.S.Soccer is in communication with the NWSL as they review this matter and will work with them to ensure meaningful steps are taken to ensure a safe and supportive environment across the league."

For more on the allegations against Riley, you can read The Athletic's full story in the Go Deeper section below.

Follow our live blog as we gather reactions and news related to the revelations shared in this story.

(Photo: Andy Mead / ISI Photos/Getty Images)

GO DEEPER

How the structure of sports protects abusers of power

GO DEEPER

'This guy has a pattern': Amid institutional failure, former NWSL players accuse prominent coach of sexual coercion

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