NWSL Brass Really Steps in It, Big Time

Maybe U2 was singing about the Troubles that plagued Northern Ireland for 'way too long, but their plea resonates with so many other issues that just won't go away:

How long?
How long must we sing this song?

Like damn near every other widespread sexual harrassment scandal, there's just no shortage of villains for the two groups who sicken this earth with their actions:

• The Enablers, whose misguided sense of loyalty, fear of job security, and/or warped values, fee the fire; and
• The Perpetrators, whose warped sense of entitlement is the fire.

In this latest edition of humans acting sub-human, it's come out that the National Women's Soccer League has been infected by jerks and jerkettes whose smug self-entitlement convinced them that a mixture of power-lust and basic lust is a fundamental right.

As usual, they operate in the shadows, which is further proof that they're giving cretins a bad name.

Sunlight once again has served as the best disinfectant, though. In this case, the shades were pulled by former players Sinead Farrelly and Mana Chim.

 

Fallout has been immediate:

• These revelations resulted in the immediate firing of North Carolina Courage coach and perp Paul Riley.
• The Washington Spirit had given coach and perp Richie Burke the boot earlier in the week.
• Seeing the writing on the wall, NWSL commish and enabler Lisa Baird opted to fall on her own sword.

The sad aspect of all this is why the harrassment and assaults went on for so long. National team star Alex Morgan got right to the point:

She wasn't alone in her raising objections.

Not one to mince words, Morgan's fellow football luminary Megan Rapinoe weighed in on the matter and basically turned the cat's ass to the sun:

 

If Commissioner Baird did anything halfway appropriate as all this has come to light -- resigning was fully appropriate -- it was suspending this weekend's slate of matches so as to assess the fallout and start making a plan for the league to get its act together.

Legal action will surely be taken in some manner, but that'll be a process, albeit a much-needed one to bring the perps and enablers into account.

 

Other measures, though, need to be taken now for the sake of precedence and player safety:

• FIFA has opened a preliminary investigation into the matter to get it all into the record,
• USA Soccer will soon announce it's retained former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates to conduct an independent investigation,
• The NWSL has announced it'll conduct an investigation of its own, and
• The players' association is laying down pertinent terms for its first-ever and much-needed contract with the league.

 

It's important that all this groundwork will quickly lead to the implementation of policies and regulations that will result in addressing any further incidents in an effective, strong, and resolute manner.

Because unfortunately, given the topic, it's gonna happen again. The quicker future incidents can be snuffed out, hopefully, fewer of them will occur.

But as most women and girls will attest, it's still and always has been an uphill battle.