Gregg Berhalter remains a candidate to return as USMNT coach.
More than two months after a dispute between the U.S.’s 2022 World Cup coach and former nationwide teamers Claudio and Danielle Reyna — the dad and mom of present U.S. midfielder Gio Reyna and longtime mates of Berhalter and his household — exploded into the general public sphere, the findings of the impartial investigation into the controversy have been launched.
U.S. Soccer on Monday launched the report authored by regulation agency Alston & Bird, which was commissioned in December after Danielle Reyna knowledgeable then U.S. Soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart a couple of 1992 occasion of home violence between Berhalter and his now spouse, Rosalind. The scope of the agency’s investigation expanded the next month to incorporate the Reynas’ interactions with members of the federation’s employees, together with Stewart after which USMNT normal supervisor Brian McBride.
The evaluation drew a number of conclusions.
For one, it confirmed FOX Sports’ reporting from January: years earlier than Claudio Reyna inappropriately reached out to U.S. Soccer officers to complain about Gio Reyna’s taking part in time through the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, he’d finished the identical factor on a number of events beforehand, most notably through the 2019 under-17 World Cup wherein Gio participated.
“Investigation witnesses described a pattern of periodic outreach by Mr. Reyna to U.S. Soccer officials and staff from in or around 2016 through the end of 2022, the purpose of which was to convey certain complaints and comments about U.S. Soccer’s treatment of his children, including primarily his son, USMNT player Gio Reyna,” it mentioned.
“Witnesses reported that Mr. Reyna’s past actions involved attempts to influence decisions by U.S. Soccer officials and staff concerning his children on issues ranging from travel arrangements to the impact of on-pitch refereeing decisions.”
It discovered that each Berhalters have been cooperative and clear throughout December interviews with the agency, and that their descriptions of the 1992 incident have been constant each with one another and with accounts from these they instructed about it on the time. Further, the investigation concluded that it “was an isolated event, and we find no evidence to suggest that Mr. Berhalter has engaged in similar misconduct at any other time.”
Gregg Berhalter wasn’t obligated to reveal the incident, which wasn’t reported to police, to U.S. Soccer earlier than being employed as USMNT coach in 2018 or throughout one other routine background verify two years later, the report mentioned. Jay Berhalter, a former USSF chief industrial officer and Gregg’s older brother, knew concerning the altercation but in addition didn’t need to disclose it to different federation officers.
While each Berhalters cooperated with investigators, the Reynas have been much less forthcoming. Claudio Reyna refused to be interviewed by Alston & Bird. Danielle Reyna had “two brief calls” with Alston & Bird, in keeping with the report. In the primary, she denied telling Stewart concerning the incident involving the Berhalters. In the second she admitted she had — a revelation she made public in early January. Danielle Reyna, Rosalind Berhalter’s roommate on the University of North Carolina on the time, mentioned she didn’t witness the altercation and that “I honestly, truly believe that Gregg never had an incident like that with Rosalind again.”
The investigation discovered that the Reynas revealed the incident to Stewart to forestall Berhalter from having his contract with U.S. Soccer prolonged. (His earlier deal expired on Dec. 31.) “The information was disclosed at a time when it would be expected to discourage or otherwise influence the organization from offering a contract extension to Mr. Berhalter,” the authors wrote. “Stewart explained during the investigation that he believed the Reynas made this disclosure to him so that U.S. Soccer would not hire Mr. Berhalter for another term.”
Still, the report additionally concluded that the Reynas’ habits didn’t break any legal guidelines. “After the fact of this investigation was made public, some media reports characterized the Reynas’ actions as ‘blackmail,’” the authors wrote. “As a legal matter, we do not arrive at the same conclusion … we obtained no information that could suggest that the Reynas demanded to receive something of value in exchange for not disclosing information about Mr. Berhalter to others.”
The Reynas’ communications didn’t even violate any present U.S. Soccer insurance policies. Expect a few of these to vary as a direct results of the spat.
“The report also identifies a need to revisit U.S. Soccer’s policies concerning appropriate parental conduct and communications with staff at the national team level,” the us mentioned in a press release. “We will be updating those policies as we continue to work to ensure safe environments for all participants in our game.”
Berhalter additionally didn’t violate any U.S. Soccer or SafeSport polices by not reporting the incident from 1992, the report mentioned. It additionally decided that the federation wouldn’t be susceptible to any civil legal responsibility ought to it select to rehire Berhalter.
“We are not aware of any legal theory that could hold an employer liable for an incident that occurred more than 25 years before he joined the organization and was not repeated at any subsequent time.”
Doug McIntyre is a soccer author for FOX Sports. Before becoming a member of FOX Sports in 2021, he was a employees author with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has coated United States males’s and girls’s nationwide groups at a number of FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.
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