Portland Thorns GM Placed On Leave Following Demand He Be Fired

PORTLAND, OR — The Portland Thorns placed general manager Gavin Wilkinson on leave following demands that he be fired. Earlier in the day, The Timbers Army and the Rose City Riveters, considered the biggest supports of the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns, respectively, released a joint letter demanding that General Manager Gavin Wilkinson be fired is getting noticed.

To show that they are serious, the organizations added "we will purchase nothing in the stadium or online until the" front office meets their demands and any demands by players and their union.

"It is clear that the Portland Thorns organization is complicit in the NWSL's failures by actively sweeping incidents and complaints under the rug and passing issues off to others without holding offenders accountable," the groups wrote referring to the recent scandal in which members of the Thorns had told management of sexual harassment by then coach Paul Riley.

"It is also abundantly evident that the PTFC leadership team knew about the incidents when they were reported in 2015. This is inexcusable."

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Since the allegations against Riley and inaction by the Timbers were first published by The Athletic, The executive director of The National Women's Soccer League has been replaced and Riley was fired from his job as coach of the North Carolina Courage.

Merritt Paulson said Monday that when the players came forward, the organization hired a female former federal prosecutor to look into their allegations. While the team let Riley go, they said nothing about the allegations.

Paulson said the report was passed on to the NWSL. The NWSL has not said what they did with the report.

The organizations listed several other demands:

• Implement a transparent and proactive safety, training, and accountability plan that is approved by the players.
• Create an executive-level Diversity Officer position, which will be filled by a candidate with more than 10 years of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) experience and a proven track record of building and implementing an organizational inclusion roadmap.
• Demonstrate transparency that players’ voices will be prominent in the hiring of the next Thorns coach — and any future coaches — as well as information about who will be responsible for background checks and vetting of any new staff.
• Hire separate general managers for the Thorns and the Timbers.
• Create a Club Culture and Player Liaison position for each team whose sole purpose is to mentor and support players from the academy on up. This role should also help transition any new players when they are signed.
• Disclose who has been secured to complete the new investigation of the 2015 events and subsequent investigation.
• Influence the league’s fulfillment of the NWSLPA demands and take local action to satisfy these demands, including immediate suspension of any staff member who violated the current anti-harassment policy or failed to report the alleged violation.

The organizations said that they want to be clear that their issues with the Timbers and Thorns organization and with the league and not with the players.

"The players know their rights and are fighting for their rights," the letter said. "We support them in taking their power back, and we are fully behind them."