National Women's Soccer League Championship Moved From Portland

PORTLAND, OR — Portland's Providence Park, home of the Portland Thorns, will no longer host the National Women's Soccer League championship game as had been planned, the league announced Wednesday. The game is being moved to Louisville.

The league and players association released a joint statement announcing the decision.

Moving the game allows a start at noon, which is three hours earlier than it would have been in Portland. Players had opposed the earlier start time.

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"Players embraced the opportunity to kickoff at noon local time in a fantastic venue," the statement from the league and players reads. "We are all dedicated to rebuilding a league that protects and promotes the best athletes in the world and that is focused on the players, their health, and their safety."

The move comes two weeks after The Athletic published allegations of sexual misconduct against former the former Thorns head coach Paul Riley. The report led to Riley being let go from his then-current job coaching the North Carolina Courage.

While Thorns management says that they hired someone to investigate the allegations against Riley when they were made and the report's findings contributed to their decision to part ways with him, they never publicly stated that. It's also not clear how widely the report was shared within the league.

Thorns management have been criticized for their reaction. Neither the league nor players have commented on whether the investigation contributed to the decision to move the game.

"Portland understood the importance of listening to the players," the league and players sai.

The Thorns released a statement that they were the only team that had initially submitted a bid to host the championship game. Despite that, "we are happy there is a resolution that works for all parties."

The Thorns, League and players all expressed regret for the inconvenience for people who had bought tickets fly to Portland see the game. The Thorns say that there will be information soon for those people.