Oct. 4, 2022 — Today’s Biggest News Stories

The National Women’s Soccer League created a culture in which players faced verbal, sexual, and emotional abuse from coaches, and the sport’s leaders failed to respond adequately to anyone who raised concerns, according to an investigation released Monday.

The US Soccer Federation ordered the investigation after the Washington Post and the Athletic reported on alleged verbal abuse and sexual misconduct involving several high-profile coaches. The investigation outlined both new and previously reported allegations after more than 200 interviews with current and former players, coaches, owners, and front office staff.

Even though players raised concerns in anonymous player surveys and made complaints, the teams, the League, and the US Soccer Federation failed to address the issues, according to the report. Erin Simon, Mana Shim, and Sinead Farrelly, some of the victims named in the report, said in a statement yesterday, “No one involved has taken responsibility for the clear role they played in harming players — not the teams, not the league, and not the federation. They chose to ignore us and silence us, allowing the abuse to continue.”

The US Soccer Federation announced that its board of directors will share a plan for how it will act on the report’s recommendations by Jan. 31. It will also immediately establish a new national Office of Participant Safety, publish soccer records from SafeSport’s Centralized Disciplinary Database, and mandate a minimum standard for background checks for all US Soccer members.

The full story contains graphic descriptions of verbal abuse and sexual misconduct.

Brittney Griner’s appeal court date

• Brittney Griner’s appeal hearing is slated for October 25. Griner, who has been detained in Russia since February, was previously sentenced to nine years in prison for drug possession charges.

• As Griner and former US Marine Paul Whelan remain detained in Russia, seven Americans who were held in Venezuela for years were released this past weekend, the New York Times reports. It was one of the biggest mass releases of American detainees abroad in years.

SNAPSHOTS

Sacheen Littlefeather, who famously condemned Hollywood’s depiction of Native Americans at the 1973 Oscars, has died. Littlefeather mostly lived outside the public eye after the backlash from her appearance at the Oscars. This year, nearly four decades later, the Academy formally apologized to her for the racist abuse she received because of her speech.

A former US Immigration and Customs Enforcement warden is accused of fatally shooting an immigrant and injuring another. Immigrants had filed complaints against Michael Sheppard for years prior to the shooting.

A former Daily Mail Editor is now the King’s top communications secretary. Many were surprised when news of Tobyn Andreae’s hire first broke in July, given that he has no experience in public relations and worked at a tabloid that published columns critical of Kate Middleton and Meghan Markle.