Report: Former OL Reign Coach Farid Benstiti Subject of Verbal Abuse Allegations

Former OL Reign head coach Farid Benstiti resigned from his position in July but according to Molly Hensley-Clancy of the Washington Post was the "subject of a formal complaint of verbal abuse made by a player, two sources with knowledge of the situation told The Post, after the French coach allegedly made inappropriate comments to players regarding their fitness and nutrition."

At the time, OL Reign CEO Bill Predmore released the following statement:

"We are appreciative of Farid's many contributions to the club over the past 18 months and wish him the best in all his future endeavors. We have great respect for Farid's talents and all he brought to the organization, but in our recent conversations there was a collective agreement that new leadership was required to achieve the performances and results needed to satisfy our ambitions."

But Predmore said in a statement to the Washington Post Thursday that he requested Benstiti's resignation after learning of the accusations of inappropriate comments, which followed an organizational investigation. 

Lindsey Horan had spoken publicly before the Reign hired Benstiti about the head coach shaming her over her weight while she played under him at Paris Saint-Germain. Predmore said after he learned of Horan's accusations, he instituted a "zero-tolerance" policy with Benstiti. 

That news followed a report from Meg Linehan of The Athletic on Thursday that Paul Riley, who was fired by the North Carolina Courage, had inappropriate sexual relationships with players and made disparaging remarks about their weight and sexual orientation. 

Riley denied the allegations. He was the third NSWL coach to be fired this year, joining the Spirit's Richie Burke and Racing Louisville's Christy Holly. 

A number of prominent players spoke out against the NSWL's handling of the situation Thursday:

"There definitely has been this shared idea that because two leagues have folded in the past, the NWSL is kind of the last hope for a women's soccer league," Alex Morgan told Linehan. "Because of that, I feel like there's this idea that we should be grateful for what we have and we shouldn't raise important questions—or ask questions at all."