Report finds sexual misconduct and emotional abuse is ‘systemic’ in US women’s soccer

• US Soccer says findings are heartbreaking and deeply troubling'
• Investigation finds teams fail to provide basic safeguards

A year-long independent investigation into abuse and sexual misconduct in women's soccer in the US has delivered a damning verdict.

Our investigation has revealed a league in which abuse and misconduct-verbal and emotional abuse and sexual misconduct-had become systemic, spanning multiple teams, coaches, and victims," the report read. Abuse in the NWSL is rooted in a deeper culture in women's soccer, beginning in youth leagues, that normalizes verbally abusive coaching and blurs boundaries between coaches and players."