Red Stars coach Rory Dames resigns after abuse allegations against players

The scandals surrounding the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) continue to unfold, this time with the resignation of Chicago Red Starscoach Rory Dames after allegations of emotional and verbal abuse.

The main trigger for Dames to leave his position at the Red Stars was an investigation conducted by The Washington Post, which claims that the coach's behavior allegedly ranged from verbally abusing team members to overstepping the boundaries of what is allowed off the field in a player-coach relationship.

According to The Washington Post, some of the allegations of abuse included in the report are: Texting players at all hours, asking players to spend significant time at lunches and dinners with him that he said were mandatory, joking that an Asian player should be smarter than how she was playing, commenting to religious players about their holidays, calling a player from Appalachia "trailer trash," comments on players' appearances, withholding family time off for a player due to her performance during a game and, on one instance, allegedly benching a player after she introduced him to her boyfriend.

Fourth NWSL coach dismissed over misconduct allegations

Dames, who less than 48 hours ago led the Red Stars into the title game which Chicago lost to the Washington Spirit, is the fourth NWSL coach this year to have been dismissed over misconduct allegations.

A fifth coach, former Racing Louisville FC's Christy Holly, was fired "for cause" with no additional details given.

Besides, Lisa Baird resigned as the league's commissioner on Oct. 1 after two former players came forward with allegations of harassment, including sexual coercion, against North Carolina Courage coach Raul Riley, who was immediately fired by the Courage.

Christen Press: "Rory emotionally abuses players"

"I think Rory emotionally abuses players. He doesn't have a safe distance between himself and his players. He uses his power and status as the coach to manipulate players and get close to them," Christen Press wrote in notes compiled for a formal complaint obtained by The Washington Post.

The Red Stars said in a statement that the goal of the review of team culture was to implement changes that would empower players.

"We stand with the players who are fiercely advocating for change, and we are committed to doing our part to ensure a safe environment for the League's players, staff, volunteers and fans," the team said.