OK, buckle up:

MARCH, 2014:

Thorns midfielder and fan-favorite Mana Shim is interviewed for a profile in the Oregonian. She talks openly about her life off the pitch, including her same-sex relationship.

DAYS LATER:

Mana is called to a meeting in Gavin Wilkinson’s office, where he suggests she needs to keep quiet about her sexuality in public. In doing so, he allegedly weaponizes another star player’s reticence to talk about her own sexuality against Mana.

The meeting with Wilkinson in his office was, Shim assumed, to discuss her role on the team for the upcoming season. Instead, she said Wilkinson instructed her not to be so vocal about off-the-field matters. Shim had come out publicly one day before the 2013 NWSL Championship; she had also discussed her anxiety around the expansion draft in 2014. She said Wilkinson’s tone was genial but the message was clear: We don’t talk about being gay or having pride. We play soccer. Wilkinson also praised one of the team’s best players and her reticence to discuss anything but soccer in interviews. Shim said she sat in that office, flabbergasted. Even in liberal Portland, in the league’s premier franchise that just won the title, silence was valued. — Meg Linehan, The Athletic

SIMULTANEOUSLY:

PTFC Front Office (“FO”) representatives reach out to the Oregonian to express displeasure that they would profile a player without clearing it with the FO first.

After the publication of the story, a member of the Thorns communications staff reached out to this reporter to express displeasure that the club hadn’t been informed in advance of the photo shoot with Shim and her girlfriend. The club also called the same reporter in 2018 to ask why the Oregonian/Oregon Live was writing another story about Shim. That story was focused on the death of Shim’s father and was written after Shim left the Thorns. — Jamie Goldberg, the Oregonian

[Editor’s note: It’s interesting to note that in 2018 (after her allegations of sexual abuse at the hands of Paul Riley but before those allegations and the apparent cover-up by the FO went public) the FO was still highly interested in controlling what the media was talking to a now-former Thorn about.]

Goldberg’s recollection was confirmed by two other journalists, Caitlin Murray (ESPN FC) and William Conwell (Rose City Review) who spoke to her about the conversation with the FO at the time.

SEPTEMBER 16, 2015:

Mana Shim reports years of sexual coercion and harassment by then-Head Coach Paul Riley to the FO and NWSL. She cites teammates Sinead Farrelly as a fellow victim and Alex Morgan as a witness.

Toward the end of the season, Shim (with her partner’s help) started working on an email detailing the major events between her and Riley. After the end of the regular season, on Sept. 16, 2015, she sent the email to Merritt Paulson, the team’s owner, Wilkinson, Garcia Ford [PTFC Head of HR], and Riley. She also forwarded it to Jeff Plush, who was then NWSL Commissioner.

Shim did not recall getting a response from Paulson. Plush emailed back at two points: later that day, telling Shim that he would follow up soon, then a few days later to say that he had spoken with Paulson and the league was monitoring the Thorns’ investigation. Wilkinson emailed her on behalf of himself and Paulson, stating that they took her complaint seriously. Garcia Ford responded via email asking for a meeting. — Meg Linehan, The Athletic

SEPTEMBER 17–22, 2015:

Nancy Garcia Ford, head of HR for PTFC, meets with Mana to investigate the report. Garcia Ford tells Mana that she has no legal claim bc she has no hard evidence. She only speaks with Sinead Farrelly for 20 minutes & doesn’t speak to Alex Morgan at all.

Garcia Ford was the only one present at the meeting, which took place within days. Shim said Garcia Ford took notes as she described the allegations involving Riley. Shim said that Garcia Ford expressed that Shim did not have a legal claim because Shim was unable to provide any corroborating evidence. She had deleted the texts from Riley on her phone and on her iCloud account earlier in the season. He had encouraged her to do so, she said, and she complied, in part, because she worried about her partner finding them. Garcia Ford offered to connect her with an IT staffer at the team, but Shim told her she had already been to Apple in an attempt to recover the texts and they were unable to do so.

Farrelly was also interviewed by Garcia Ford, a meeting that lasted about 20 minutes, Farrelly said. She detailed the incident with herself, Shim and Riley in his apartment where he had persuaded them to kiss each other, and she confirmed that she had seen the inappropriate photo Riley had sent Shim, as well as other texts from him. She said nothing of her own experiences with Riley. Morgan said no one on the team contacted her, even though she was listed on Shim’s complaint as a person with knowledge of Riley’s actions towards Shim. — Meg Linehan, The Athletic

[Editor’s note: Police are often able to obtain deleted evidence from a cell phone when ‘the guy at the Apple Store’ can’t. It is possible that had Shim been encouraged to pursue the complaint instead of discouraged by PTFC HR, the lewd texts and photos from Riley could have been recovered and she could have pressed charges.]

SEPTEMBER 23, 2015:

PTFC allows Riley’s contract to expire and publicly states that this is due to poor on-field results and Riley’s desire to return to Long Island. Wilkinson openly praises and thanks him. No mention of the allegations is ever made until 2021.

“On behalf of Thorns FC, I would like to thank Paul for his services to the club these past two seasons,” said Wilkinson, in a prepared statement Wednesday.

Riley also said it had been difficult coaching in Portland, while his wife lived in Long Island, New York.

Wilkinson said at the beginning of September that it would have to be right for both side for the Thorns to bring Riley back. Ultimately, Portland made the decision to go in a different direction. — Jamie Goldberg, The Oregonian

OCTOBER, 2015:

Shim is sent on loan to Japan & Farrelly is traded to Boston. When asked directly, Wilkinson tells Farelly the trade is not related to the investigation but won’t answer whether Riley will be enabled to coach elsewhere.

One month after Riley’s exit from Portland, Farrelly was traded to the Boston Breakers. At the urging of her partner, she emailed Wilkinson asking about the reason for her trade. They met in his office the next day. Farrelly said Wilkinson told her the trade had nothing to do with Riley or the investigation into his behavior, but when she brought up Riley’s potential to coach in the league again, Farrelly said he avoided answering.

Shim went on loan to Japan that offseason, and when she returned to Portland for the next season, she said no one ever talked to her about Riley’s alleged behavior again. — Meg Linehan, The Athletic

FEBRUARY 19, 2016:

Paul Riley is hired as the Head Coach of the Western New York Flash. The hire was championed by Flash VP Aaron Lines. Lines is a former Portland Timbers & NZ national teammate of Gavin Wilkinson and the two reportedly remain close friends.

Lines stepped down as head coach in December, citing the growth of the club’s businesses with its youth academy and Sahlen’s Sports Park. Lines was named vice president of the club in January.

“After matching up with him for many years, I’m thrilled to announce Paul Riley as the second coach in our club’s eight-year history,” Lines said. “It was obviously very important to me to find the right successor and we couldn’t be happier to have Paul. He is an excellent coach and very well respected across the globe.” — Jeff Kassouf, The Equalizer

[Editor’s note: The Flash would later move and become the North Carolina Courage. You’ll see the two team names used interchangeably in articles regarding these events. I would also be remiss if I didn’t include this paragraph from Caitlin Murray’s article for ESPN in October of 2022, which calls into question just how much Lines knew at the time: ]

Aaran Lines, who initially hired Riley at the Flash, said he was aware of a complaint filed against Riley, but said it showed “no unlawful activity.” It’s also unclear what Lines, who married a player on the Flash while he was her coach, thought of the complaint or what exact details he had been made of aware of in it. Lines knew Wilkinson well enough to ask for more details, though — Lines and Wilkinson had played on both the New Zealand national team and the Timbers together previously. — Caitlin Murray, ESPN FC

FOR THE NEXT FOUR YEARS (2016–2020):

Merritt Paulson continues to publicly praise and pal around with Riley, from discussing on-field results to their favorite movies. There is no hint that their relationship has been impacted in any way by the knowledge that he has been sexually abusing players.

MAY 23, 2021:

Police are called to the home of Timbers midfielder Andy Polo for a report of domestic violence. While Polo’s estranged wife Génessis Alarcon is on the phone with a friend who is calling 911, Polo is on the phone with the PTFC FO. Gabriel Jaimes, PTFC Manager of Player Affairs, arrives at the scene and intervenes with police, asking them to wait until PTFC Director of Security (and retired Portland Police Bureau Detective) Jim McCausland arrives and can speak with them. Police reports indicate that police spoke directly with Polo, Jaimes, and McCausland while language assistance was not provided on-scene for Alarcon (she only communicated with police via a translator over the phone). McCausland assured police that he would separate Polo & Alarcon, and Jaimes told police that he was already in the process of obtaining plane tickets back to Peru for Alarcon and her children, despite not having spoken to Alarcon to see if that’s what she wanted.

Satisfied that a “safety plan” was in place and that McCausland “would take care of it”, the officers released Polo from arrest and instead cited him with misdemeanor harassment rather than domestic violence. This event was never reported to MLS as a violation of the league’s SABH (Substance Abuse & Behavioral Health) policy.

[Editor’s note: Oregon is a “mandatory arrest state.” ORS 133.055, section 2 states that “when a peace officer responds to an incident of domestic disturbance and has probable cause to believe that an assault has occurred between family or household members, or to believe that one such person has placed the other in fear of imminent serious physical injury, the officer shall arrest and take into custody the alleged assailant or potential assailant.” (emphasis mine) There is no exception in the law for those whose employers promise to separate them from their victims by flying the victim out of the country. Polo, by law, should have been arrested and issued a restraining order.]

JUNE 3, 2021

McCausland once again visits Alacon at her home, this time accompanied by the lawyer PTFC had hired to represent Polo. This lawyer, Christine Mascal, had previously made news when she was forced to resign from the Oregon Crime Victims Law Center in 2019 due to public outcry following her aggressive cross examination of a sexual assault victim (who, coincidentally, is a long time PTFC supporter), in which she blamed said victim and questioned her motives and character. On this occasion, Mascal and McCausland spoke with Alarcon for nearly an hour about the incident the previous week, Ms. Alarcon’s legal options, and ways in which PTFC could provide her support. They informed Alarcon that they’d arranged for Polo to pay her $400 per month for living expenses such as food and also discussed using resources from the Oregon Department of Human Services. In an article written in March 2022 after hearing an audio recording of the meeting, Jeff Carlisle of ESPN reported the following:

But later Mascal asks Alarcón to let her know if the district attorney calls Alarcón. She later says, “The office may call you to see if you want to pursue those charges. And again, you can say ‘Yes, I want to,’ or ‘No, I do not.’ Of course we’re hoping you say, no, you did not. But if you decided that you want him to go through the court system, I kind of need to know that.”

Mascal goes on to explain that if Alarcón pursues charges, it will go to a trial that could last as long as two days, and that Alarcón will have to testify before a jury. In addition to up to a year in jail, the representative says Polo could get a fine up to $6,250, and while Polo likely wouldn’t get a year sentence, he would get some jail and be on probation for up to three years.

But later Mascal asks Alarcón to let her know if the district attorney calls Alarcón. She later says, “The office may call you to see if you want to pursue those charges. And again, you can say ‘Yes, I want to,’ or ‘No, I do not.’ Of course we’re hoping you say, no, you did not. But if you decided that you want him to go through the court system, I kind of need to know that.”

Mascal goes on to explain that if Alarcón pursues charges, it will go to a trial that could last as long as two days, and that Alarcón will have to testify before a jury. In addition to up to a year in jail, the representative says Polo could get a fine up to $6,250, and while Polo likely wouldn’t get a year sentence, he would get some jail and be on probation for up to three years.

Mascal then said, “Of course, [Polo] probably doesn’t want to go that route, right? That’s why we’re telling him to get you what you need. Hopefully it doesn’t end up in a trial situation.”

[Editor’s note: Put a pin in this one — we’re gonna come back to it]

SEPTEMBER 29, 2021:

The Athletic reaches out to Merritt Paulson and Gavin Wilkinson in advance of the publication of their Paul Riley story. For the first time, Paulson admits that the sexual abuse allegations by Mana in 2015 “factored into the decision not to renew Riley’s contract.”

Wilkinson’s response to Shim’s allegations that he encouraged her not to be open about her sexuality is:

“Bullshit.”

Paulson’s and Wilkinson’s responses will both be printed in the Athletic story the next day.

SEPTEMBER 30, 2021

Meg Linehan’s story detailing decades of sexual coercion and abuse of multiple players including Sinead Farrelly and Mana Shim by Paul Riley and the systemic silence and prioritization of Riley’s career by PTFC and NWSL leadership is published in The Athletic. It contains dozens of interviews with current and former players and corroborating evidence in the form of emails and records from the time. The shit hits the fan.

Over the course of the next 24 hours, the North Caroline Courage fire Paul Riley and USSF suspends his coaching license. NWSL puts out a statement expressing shock, applauding the players for coming forward, and promising to investigate the allegations. Their statement is heavily criticized for its inconsistencies with the evidence that they knew all along and later that evening Lisa Baird resigns as NWSL Commissioner and is removed from her position in USSF leadership. Players (individually as well as the NWSL Players Union), supporters groups, and sponsors all speak out to express outrage and pain, and the weekend’s matches are postponed.

There is silence from PTFC. The only statement issued is a personal one sent directly to Meg Linehan by Gavin Wilkinson, in which he attempts to walk back his “Bullshit.” comment the day prior. He does not address the wider allegations surrounding PTFC’s handling of the Riley complaint in any way. Linehan shares this statement on twitter and updates her article to include it.

“Yesterday I was asked about a statement Mana Shim credited to me when she was in Portland, which I denied saying and I stand by my recollection of the conversation. I have always intended to encourage players to speak freely on all matters and we have more than a decade worth of work that speaks to that fact. However, I clearly said something to Mana in 2015 that made her feel differently. I fully own that and do not question Mana’s feelings surrounding our conversation. On my end, this is an opportunity to re-focus on how I communicate. I will work to be better, and apologize to Mana for how I made her feel in 2015.” — Gavin Wilkinson [statement provided to The Athletic]

OCTOBER 2, 2021:

Portland Thorns and Timbers supporters rally outside Providence Park demanding Gavin Wilkinson’s removal from the PTFC organization. During the protest, supporters ask PTFC security on-site whether their signs and banners will be allowed inside the park the next day for the Timbers match. They are assured that all banners and signs would be allowed “as long as they did not contain vulgar language or threats of violence.’

SIMULTANEOUSLY:

The players of the Portland Timbers put out a statement in support of their colleagues on the Thorns and all victims of abuse. The statement is signed and shared on social media by many players, including Andy Polo on twitter.

OCTOBER 3, 2021:

Supporters protest inside Providence Park at the Timbers match, and the protest is specifically highlighted on the national broadcast. While signs with initials made it into the stands, supporters reported their signs were confiscated by security or not allowed inside if they contained the names “Gavin” or “Merritt” (even if there were no threats or foul language on them).

OCTOBER 4, 2021:

Five days after the abuse and PTFC’s silence around it are revealed, an open letter from Merritt Paulson is released on the Thorns social media accounts. An hour later, Merritt retweets it from his personal account.

Portland Thorns FC on Twitter: "An open letter from Merritt Paulson. #BAONPDX / Twitter"

An open letter from Merritt Paulson. #BAONPDX

In the letter, Merritt’s story has now changed from “the allegations factored into the decision to allow Riley’s contract to expire.” (9.31.21) to “We then made an opaque announcement about not renewing Riley’s contract as opposed to explicitly announcing his termination.” [Editor’s note: to this day we do not know the truth as to whether he was fired or his contract simply allowed to expire]. Paulson goes on to say the following:

“Let me be unequivocal in saying that I as team owner and we as an organization disavow the culture of silence that may have allowed for additional victimization by a predatory coach, whose actions we forcefully condemn.” — Merritt Paulson

[Editor’s note: The dictionary.com definition of “Disavow” is as follows:
“Dis·a·vow (/disəˈvou/) verb 1) deny any responsibility or support for.”]

This disavowal of the culture of silence around abuse that allows for further predation was issued 4 months AFTER the Andy Polo incident, which PTFC was still actively covering up.

The letter ends with a numbered list of eight steps that PTFC would be taking going forward. I will call out two of those items specifically below:

5. We are creating a form on our website to enable our fans and community to provide anonymized feedback and input as we go through this transformative process.

This never happened.

7. We have retained new outside lawyers including a female former federal prosecutor to conduct a comprehensive and deliberate independent investigation of our original 2015 investigation. Whatever findings result from this review, I commit to you, we will make public in summary form. We will be equally transparent with whatever corrective actions we take in response to the investigative findings.

As of April, 2022, no findings or corrective actions have ever been released by PTFC. No transparency into the firm conducting the investigation, the scope, or an estimated timeline has been shared by PTFC either.

[Editor’s note: In March, 2022 (see below) they will issue a list of “new initiatives” but none of these would have prevented what occurred with Riley had they been in place at the time, nor do any of them prescribe consequences for those who allowed it to happen. They are pleasant distractions, not corrective actions.]

OCTOBER 5, 2021:

Paulson begins deleting all of his friendly tweets to Paul Riley over the last 5 years.

Caitlin Murray on Twitter: "It appears Thorns owner Merritt Paulson has deleted these tweets directed at disgraced coach Paul Riley within the last day or so. These tweets came after Paulson was made aware of disturbing allegations against Riley in 2015. #NWSL #BAONPDX pic.twitter.com/CrqnYvo6SR / Twitter"

It appears Thorns owner Merritt Paulson has deleted these tweets directed at disgraced coach Paul Riley within the last day or so. These tweets came after Paulson was made aware of disturbing allegations against Riley in 2015. #NWSL #BAONPDX pic.twitter.com/CrqnYvo6SR

SIMULTANEOUSLY:

While Merritt was erasing his history of friendliness with Riley in the wake of his departure, the 107ist (which coordinates for both the Timbers Army and Rose City Riveters supporters’ groups) issues their own demands and calls for a boycott of all merchandise and concessions in Providence Park until their demands are met. The demands include the following:

“We call for the immediate and complete removal of Gavin Wilkinson from the PTFC organization, including the youth academies. We also demand the following:

1. Implement a transparent and proactive safety, training, and accountability plan that is approved by the players.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. Hire separate general managers for the Thorns and the Timbers.

5. 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.

6. Disclose who has been secured to complete the new investigation of the 2015 events and subsequent investigation.

7. 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.”

Of these demands, numbers 3, 5, 6 and (arguably) 7 remain unfulfilled as of last update 5/2/22.

[Editor’s note: It’s notable that had numbers 2 and 5 been met sooner or at all, other incidents outside the purview of this timeline, such as the Thorns’ drafting then release of Nasello in December, could have been avoided.]

OCTOBER 6, 2021:

5:30pm — Portland Thorns players release a statement shortly before taking the pitch for their game expressing pain and anger in the wake of the revelations. Their statement includes their own list of demands (in alignment with the demands from the NWSLPA and the 107ist).

October 6, 2021–6:00pm: After the Thorns have taken the pitch for warm-ups, PTFC issues a statement that Gavin Wilkinson has been placed on administrative leave from all Thorns duties while the investigation is ongoing.

[Editor’s note: While Gavin is suspended as the GM for the Thorns, he is still GM for the Timbers and President of Soccer for the organization, overseeing both teams. There is no transparency into whether his pay is affected by this suspension.]

OCTOBER 19, 2021:

In a concession to supporters who are demanding updates on the ongoing investigation, PTFC begins informing Season Ticket Holders [STH] that they will waive the traditional membership renewal deadline until after the results of the investigation have been released.

In these emails, they also announce “a new Thorns and Timbers local scholarship fund of $150,000 focused on women’s rights and gender equity.” This scholarship is never announced more broadly than the email to STHs and is not mentioned again until March, 2022. The PTFC “Stand Together” web page, which contains all information on PTFC community outreach, makes no mention of this scholarship fund to this day.

Luke Fritz on Twitter: "Email from @ThornsFC to season ticket holders this afternoon. Fascinating in many ways. #BAONPDX #NWSL pic.twitter.com/1iry1eZlDR / Twitter"

Email from @ThornsFC to season ticket holders this afternoon. Fascinating in many ways. #BAONPDX #NWSL pic.twitter.com/1iry1eZlDR

DECEMBER 7, 2021:

PTFC makes 70% of their ticket allotment for the 2021 MLS Cup Final at Providence Park available only via presale to those who have already renewed their season tickets for 2022. Fans are outraged at the perceived coercion to renew when they were previously told they wouldn’t have to make a decision until after the results of the investigation were shared.

DECEMBER 13, 2021:

PTFC, led by Gavin Wilkinson and with full knowledge of the domestic violence incident in May [which they still had not disclosed to the public nor the league], make the decision to renew Andy Polo’s contract with the Timbers.

Editor’s note: The next few entries are a bit more gray with regards to the dates and the details of what happened between Andy Polo and Génessis Alarcon in Peru. Details of the events are still in dispute, as well as being filtered through translators that might have missed nuances.

It’s important to remember that studies as recent as 2018 have shown that only approximately 50% of all domestic violence incidents are ever reported, and that only 2–6% of DV and rape reports turn out to be false. While we do not have all the facts yet, there is a 94–98% chance that Alarcon’s accusations are true.

This timeline is not focused on getting to the bottom of what happened between Polo and Alarcon nor between Riley and his victims. This information is only shared to give context to the broader timeline of what PTFC knew, when, and how they have responded. This post will provide links to both sides of the dispute, not to assign credibility to either side, but simply to try to piece together the timeline of what we know so far.

Another small note: reports alternately use “wife”, “ex-wife”, “ex-girlfriend”, and “mother of [Polo’s] children” to refer to Génessis. From what I can piece together, they are still married, but separated sometime in 2018 and began divorce negotiations, which are still ongoing, in JUNE of 2021.

DECEMBER 14, 2021:

Polo, Génessis & their kids travel to Peru to be with their respective families for the holidays.

DECEMBER 15, 2021:

It seems from what we know that this is when another incident of DV occurs. We don’t have the details of this specific incident or know if there were further incidents between May and December, but we know that on this day she took the kids and fled the couple’s vacation rental to stay with her grandparents. She will later share photos of a black eye, abrasions on her neck, and claim that he also pulled her hair and was violent with the children. We know from Polo’s later response that she made a report in Peru on this day, but it’s unclear if this was a report with regards to DV or to his alleged failure to pay child support.

JANUARY 11, 2022:

PTFC begins contacting season ticket holders (STH) to inform them that a deadline to renew has now been set for January 21st, despite the fact there have been no updates on the status of the Riley investigation since Merritt’s letter in October. When pressed by STHs who are upset that this contradicts what they were previously told, replies from PTFC imply that the investigation is ongoing and they hope to have something to share with the public soon.

JANUARY 18, 2022:

Andy Polo reports to Spring Training camp

JANUARY 21, 2022:

In the afternoon on what would have been the deadline to renew season tickets, PTFC again contacts STHs who haven’t renewed yet to extend the deadline by one more week. They once again heavily imply that the “ongoing investigation” prevents them from giving any further information but they hope to have results shortly.

JANUARY 24, 2022:

The players of the Portland Thorns share an update on the investigation on social media. It contains several bombshells and raises further questions.

They inform the public that the firm hired by PTFC was DLA Piper, and that its work was structured as an “internal business review.” We learn that the investigation has been closed (with the potential to be re-opened at a later date) at the request of the NWSL and NWSLPA, in an effort to prioritize their own investigations into the Riley scandal, and that no current or former Thorns players were interviewed. They share that PTFC has ensured the players that the investigation will be re-opened as soon as they are able to so that current and former players who wish to may be interviewed. Finally, we learn that Gavin Wilkinson has been reinstated as President of Soccer.

We are left with several questions, including:

1. How long has the investigation been closed? Was it already closed when ticket reps were promising results “soon” and using “ongoing investigation” as an excuse not to answer questions from supporters?

2. What did the investigation find? Where are the “results in summary form” we were promised by Paulson in October? Will we have to wait for those until after the NWSL, NWSLPA and FIFA all conclude their own investigations and then PTFC re-opens their own and closes it a second time?

3. If the “internal business review” didn’t include interviews with any current or former players, what did it include? Just reading through FO emails and asking Gavin “did you mean to do a cover-up” doesn’t seem like much of an “investigation” and certainly can’t have taken 4 months.

We are also left with several striking observations. For one, the players (rather than the organization) were left to share this information. The fact that the victims were saddled with the emotional labor of bringing this to the public was even more infuriating for many supporters.

The careful, legal language used was also notable. The players “recognize” that Gavin has been reinstated (not “welcome” his reinstatement). They are quick to point out that that they’ve been promised the investigation will eventually be reopened and they will have a chance to speak with the firm. They call the actions taken by PTFC “important first steps” and note that they “look forward to building on that progress” (implying that they still have a way to go). They also say they look forward to cooperating not only with all current investigations underway, but also with “those which may arise.” Is there another shoe left to drop?

As of 5/2/22, PTFC has still not commented on this statement by the players to confirm or deny any details and has given no further updates.

February 8, 2022:

Alarcon gives an interview on a Peruvian talk show informing the public for the first time of her accusations against Polo of domestic violence. She shares photos of the wrist abrasion allegedly sustained in May in Portland and of a black eye & abrasions on the back of her neck from another incident (likely the one in December) in Peru. She claims he also pulled her hair, was violent with the children, and has failed to pay child support.

5 Minutes to Kickoff on Twitter: "WARNING I found the TV interview with Polo's ex. WARNING it's really disturbing so you might not to watch. https://t.co/Bxp7Z5pW1T / Twitter"

WARNING I found the TV interview with Polo's ex. WARNING it's really disturbing so you might not to watch. https://t.co/Bxp7Z5pW1T

February 9, 2022:

The following morning, PTFC and MLS each issue statements on the allegations made the previous evening. While MLS’ statement is issued publicly, PTFC’s is issued directly to members of the media and never released publicly by the organization on their website or on social media [Editor’s note: still allergic to transparency]. Taken together, the statements say that Polo was placed on suspension by MLS immediately upon PTFC informing the league of the allegations. The league will investigate and be in close contact with the players’ association throughout the investigation. PTFC is cooperating with the investigation and will have no further comment while it’s ongoing.

LATER THAT EVENING:

Alarcon gives a second TV interview in which she answers some questions and gives more details of her allegations. For the first time, she reveals the involvement of PTFC representatives at the scene of the incident the previous May. When asked if she thought PTFC protected Andy Polo, Alarcon agreed,

“Now they are acting clueless but they knew from the beginning.”

Jose Tejeda on Twitter: "#MagalyTvLaFirme #MagalyTvLaFirme wow, Genessis revela que el club @TimbersFC blindo al impresentable de Andy Polo junto con la policía para encubrir la agresión que sufrió ella a manos de este tipejo, delante de sus hijos. Indignante. 😠😠😠 pic.twitter.com/cltU2SI8Sb / Twitter"

MagalyTvLaFirme #MagalyTvLaFirme wow, Genessis revela que el club @TimbersFC blindo al impresentable de Andy Polo junto con la policía para encubrir la agresión que sufrió ella a manos de este tipejo, delante de sus hijos. Indignante. 😠😠😠 pic.twitter.com/cltU2SI8Sb

February 10, 2022:

The Oregonian obtains a copy of the police report from the May incident and verifies Génessis’ claims in the previous evening’s interview. They publish their article confirming PTFC FO involvement in the May incident at 1:40pm.

At 1:45pm, PTFC reverses course from the previous day’s assertion that they would have no comment while MLS was investigating the claims. They issue an official statement in which they announce that Polo’s contract has been terminated, admit that they had known about the incident in May, and apologize for not taking immediate action.

PTFC only admits to “knowledge” of the incident in May, not their own participation in it. They do not address their decision to re-sign Polo to a new contract in December, nor their silence over the last 9 months . They don’t clarify whether they informed MLS of the incident when it occurred in May nor whether the investigation MLS announced the previous day was completed before PTFC terminated Polo’s contract. We are not told if Polo received any behavioral health intervention or what support, if any, the club provided Alarcon. Reporters begin to question whether PTFC has opened themselves up to legal liability for terminating Polo’s contract unilaterally without going through the investigation and MLS’ substance abuse & behavioral health (SABH) procedures first. It’s unclear which CBA these events would be covered by due to the gap between the events in question and the response.

February 18, 2022:

The Athletic confirms that PTFC did not inform the league nor the players’ association of the events in May until after the news broke in February. They simultaneously reveal that MLS has hired an outside law firm to investigate PTFC’s handling of these events.

“Following the allegations made last week against Andy Polo, Major League Soccer promptly launched a review into the decisions that the Portland Timbers made in response to the charges brought against the player last May,” MLS said in a statement to The Athletic. “The Timbers are committed to this review and have pledged their full cooperation.”

FEBRUARY 21, 2022:

MLS Commissioner Don Garber makes a statement in support of the Paulsons, undermining whatever investigation is underway by a firm hired by MLS. Fans are particularly upset that Garber credits “building [the Timbers] from scratch” when the team has existed since 1975 and was largely built and brought into MLS 10 years ago riding on the efforts and passions of supporters that were with the club long before the Paulsons or Garber had heard of it.

FEBRUARY 23, 2022

Gavin Wilkinson participates in a zoom town hall for season ticket holders alongside Gio Savarese, Sebastian Blanco, Eryk Williamson, and Diego Chara. He is immediately asked a series of questions about the ongoing scandals and the team’s responses, and while his responses sound very rehearsed, they also double back to contradict themselves quite often. When asked about the Polo incident, he immediately says “The club has a zero tolerance for domestic violence,” but then goes on to say “the incident in May, we thought, was isolated and when we learned of these new allegations we took immediate action.” [So…that makes it an only-one-freebie tolerance for domestic violence?]

When asked about what actions the club would take going forward from these scandals, he again opens with “We don’t need to wait for an investigation to show us a better path on which to move forward,” but then his long, rambling answer winds it’s way towards concluding that “I think with what has happened we have to wait for the MLS and the NWSL findings and when they conclude and those findings become public, we have to have another discussion about the best way to move forward and we have to look at ways we avoid making a similar mistake.”

[Editor’s note: I’m going to be uncharacteristically charitable and assume that when he says “we have to make sure that we have no oversight” he was mis-speaking.]

When asked about Mana Shim’s statement that the message she’d gotten from their meeting was that “we don’t talk about being gay or having pride, we play soccer” and his reaction to that statement; “Bullshit.” Wilkinson expressed deep regret for using that word and an understanding that “perception is reality” but quickly shifts to positive things the organization had done (not personal actions)— such as the club’s public statement in support of gay marriage in 2014. This tendency to blame failures on the organization as a whole but to take personal credit for organizational decisions and actions that make you look good is a pattern we see repeated in nearly every public statement from Paulson, Wilkinson, or Golub.

Finally, he is asked what he has to say to those who think he should no longer be the GM of the Timbers. After a long pause he said that his “biggest motivator is a fear of failure,” and that “failure can be fans wanting you out for what they perceive to be all the right reasons.” He went on to ask patience while “the facts” come out and took credit for bringing so many good people of strong character, like Valeri and Chara, into the club. He closes with “We’ve got a lot of work to do, and our actions will speak louder than words.”

[Editor’s note: Unfortunately for Gavin, that last part will indeed turn out to be true, but their actions will only make things worse. Reader, I regret to inform you that we’re not done yet.]

FEBRUARY 26, 2022: Supporters bring a 2-stick reading “Merritt Paulson Protects Abusers” to the opening day match against New England. Despite this banner not containing threatening or vulgar language, the FO sends head of security Jim McCausland (who, coincidentally was the one to convince police not to arrest Andy Polo for DV) to escort the supporter holding the banner out of the park. This supporter is issued a 3-match ban for “violating the fan code of conduct.”

MARCH 9, 2022:

Alarcon and her lawyer are interviewed by MLS investigators looking into Portland’s handling of the Polo incident. Later that day she also speaks with ESPN, revealing that 2 weeks after she was assaulted by Polo in May 2021, Jim McCausland and an unnamed female attorney (whom we later learned was Christine Mascal) representing Andy Polo visited her to essentially bribe her not to press charges against Polo.

They were going to help me, and make sure me and my kids didn’t get left on the street,” Alarcon said with the help of an interpreter. “They were going to make sure that Andy was going to be responsible for me and my kids but it never happened. I was told this would be in exchange for not pressing charges.

In a statement to ESPN, the Timbers explicitly and forcefully denied the accusation.

While the Timbers offered support to Mr. Polo, Ms. Alarcon and their children during a difficult time, there was never any suggestion — expressly or implicitly — that the support was offered in exchange for consideration by Ms. Alarcon. The Timbers would never condone or participate in such conduct.

MARCH 11, 2022:

Alarcon’s lawyer releases an audio recording of the visit from PTFC representatives, in which Mascal explicitly tells Alarcon, through an interpreter, that “we HOPE you will say no you do not (want to press charges)” — dramatically refuting PTFC’s denial issued just 2 days earlier. When reached for comment by ESPN following release of the recording, PTFC now says they “will decline further comment until the MLS review is complete.”

MARCH 29, 2022

MLS releases their report following the internal investigation. They do NOT find that PTFC coerced Alarcon into not pressing charges against Polo, but they DO find that PTFC failed to promptly and appropriately report the incident to the league, and they fine PTFC $25,000. The entire report can be read HERE.

[Editor’s note: this is 1/4 what they fined Merritt Paulson in 2017 for disparaging a referee. It should also be compared to the fine issued to Inter Miami just months earlier for having too many DPs on their roster — $2 million plus a $2.2 million dollar cap hit. This speaks volumes about how seriously MLS takes domestic violence]

Journalists and fans immediately take issue with several issues surrounding these findings.

1. Proskauer Rose, the “independent” firm hired by MLS to conduct the investigation, is only “independent” in the loosest definition of the term. Sebastian Salazar of ESPN’s Futbol Americas quickly documents the close relationship over a decade between Proskauer Rose and MLS as well as between them and the Timbers specifically in a useful twitter thread.
2. The finding that the assistance offered to Alarcon was not coercion is based on the fact that the Timbers had also assisted her in other, unrelated ways (such as getting her family green cards to travel to America with Polo when the Timbers signed him), before the incident in May. Their logic seems to be that since PTFC assisting players’ wives didn’t begin and end with only the wives who’ve been beaten and only after the beating occurs, no assistance could possibly be considered connected to the abuse incident.
3. Other evidence that they believe supported PTFC’s claim that they didn’t coerce Alarcon included “that both Mr. McCausland’s and Ms. Mascal’s tones were calm and respectful throughout the meeting” [as if it’s only coercion if you’re yelling it] and that “Ms. Mascal’s statement that she was “hoping” Ms. Alarcon did not pursue the charges was made after Ms. Alarcon indicated that she did not want to pursue the charges” [as if whether or not the coercion attempt was necessary determines whether the attempt was made].
4. The report completely ignores that Mascal clearly implies that if Polo were to go to jail, the $400/month payments he had agreed to could cease.
5. As mentioned above, the MLS Commissioner’s public comments in support of PTFC leadership further undermined the legitimacy and independence of the investigation being conducted by a firm hired by MLS with a long history of representing MLS.

Despite all these reasonable concerns, and despite the fact that the report DID find the Timbers guilty of failing to report the incident, and despite the fact that internal investigations determine whether you broke any league rules — NOT if you were acting ethically, PTFC has continuously pointed any and all critics to this report, which they seem to find completely exculpatory.

MARCH 30, 2022

PTFC releases their long awaited “corrective actions” list. After Wilkinson stated in his Town Hall that “We don’t need to wait for an investigation to show us a better path on which to move forward,” they released their plans about their path forward one day after the investigation results were released.

While the list contains several welcome first steps, most of the initiatives listed do not directly address the incidents that have occurred, they fail to hold those responsible for the incidents accountable or institute any disciplinary steps for future failures, they do not include timetables or deadlines so that PTFC can be held to these promises, they lack transparency, and are generally underwhelming and feel more like PR spin than atonement for mistakes. Let’s take them one by one:

• “The Club will hire a Vice President of Community and Social Impact to oversee our Stand Together initiatives and lead new outreach and diversity initiatives. The role will build on our decade-long effort to harness the power of sport to improve the lives of children and families through targeted programs, deep partnerships and philanthropic giving.”

This sounds nice! But Stand Together has existed for years now. Was there no VP before? Are they just giving someone a title bump? This has nothing to do with the organization repeatedly protecting sexual and domestic abusers. This also has no timeline attached for the hire.

• “We have partnered with Workplace Change, a local BIPOC-owned firm specializing in workplace diversity and inclusion, to assess our practices and help guide future planning so we may better reflect our broader community and give greater voice within the organization to diversity, equity and inclusion.

Cool! This is actually a welcome step. No, it’s not as good as the executive-level DEI officer the 107ist was demanding, but it’s a good start. And there’s transparency into who exactly they’re partnering with! Genuinely glad to see this. Only concern is that there is once again no timeline for this. Are we talking about a one-time culture study, or ongoing consultancy?

• “The club is committed to bolstering its HR and legal team with a compliance focused position to ensure that all reporting, training and due diligence across the entire Timbers and Thorns ecosystems are applied and adhered to.”

OK, I guess I can’t say that there are NO corrective actions. This one is corrective, as it would have ensured PTFC would have reported the Polo incident to MLS. I find it depressing/amusing though that the only corrective action in the list is one that prevents Merritt from paying more fines, not any that prevent more women from being abused.

• “We are proud to announce a new Thorns and Timbers local scholarship fund to be awarded through local nonprofits focused on women’s rights, gender equity and aiding those impacted by domestic violence. The beneficiaries are: Bradley Angle, New Avenues For Youth, Saving Grace and Clackamas Women’s Services.”

Oh hey! The second ever mention of the new lady-focused-scholarships they told us about in the Season Ticket Holder email last October! We now know the 4 beneficiaries of these scholarships. Back then they told us the fund would total $150k, but we don’t know how these beneficiaries were chosen, by whom, or how much they got. We don’t know if this is a continuous fund or a one-time gift. There is no information about these gifts or this fund on the Stand Together page as of writing. Also, while funding shelters for women and youth escaping domestic violence is always a good thing, you can ALSO help these women and children by simply not using your immense community clout and financial power to protect their abusers’ careers and reputations.

• “We opened a dialogue with Thorns and Timbers players and staff to ensure they have a more direct line to management. Players will be empowered to safely raise potential complaints or issues, and feedback from players can be directly shared with decision makers in the front office to ensure that player voices are heard and amplified.”

Was this a problem before? There seemed to be a direct line of dialogue with management for Mana Shim when she was called to Gavin’s office to be subtly encouraged to stay closeted and stick to sports. There was a direct line to management when Sinead directly asked Gavin if Riley would be enabled to coach and abuse elsewhere and he avoided answering her question. The problem was never the ability of players to bring their concerns to management — it was what management did about those concerns. This entire bullet point is meaningless.

• This season, we will broaden communications and engagement opportunities for Annual Members to ensure a wide range of voices are heard, offer more ways to engage with the club and increase transparency. New fan engagement programs include access to team Town Halls, a series of small-scale open house meetings with club officials, monthly newsletters with engagement opportunities and surveys to gather input and drive club decision making.

This one’s really good, because it’s a negative disguised as a positive. What it’s actually saying is what Merritt said to ESPN back in January: They will no longer meet with the democratically elected representatives of the Timbers Army and Rose City Riveters supporters groups. They’re replacing those important dialogues with other forums where they have all the control over what’s discussed and what is NOT discussed — like zoom town halls where all questions are screened in advance.

It’s also laughable/insulting that they claim this is an attempt to “increase transparency” when the first couple of these small scale open houses started with the admonishment “In order to be open and candid we just ask that there aren’t recordings, so that we can continue to have these in the future.” Why would you not want a recording of yourselves being open and honest? What do they feel comfortable saying to a small group of supporters that they don’t want the rest of the supporters to know they said? Why would you cut off meetings with supporters if they share what you said to them in the meetings? Do you even know what “transparency” is?

• “At the heart of Stand Together is our youth focused programming. Stand Together is excited to continue partnerships with local nonprofits, whose collective work is dedicated to supporting young women and advancing women’s rights and issues in the greater Portland community, such as Girls Inc., Boys & Girls Club and Adelante Mujeres. In addition, the Thorns will continue to further advance their Girls Strong initiative by evolving the one-day event led by Thorns players into a yearlong program to inspire confidence, wellness, and empowerment through soccer and other activities.”

This is another very nice thing to do which has absolutely nothing to do with what’s happened. It’s just a list of nice things they have already been doing for years for young girls. Supporting young girls in sports does not excuse your behavior toward them once they’re grown women.

• “Portland-based, Black-owned company, Construct the Present, will lead training sessions focused on the history of discrimination in Oregon, allyship, privilege and interrupting microaggressions for all full-time employees of the club. Additionally, all full-time employees are required to take part in annual anti-harassment and anti-discrimination trainings.”

Once again, I don’t have a problem with this but why weren’t you doing it before? You to take an annual anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training in order to work at the grocery store when you’re 16. It’s shocking that they didn’t have this until now.

• “As part of our commitment to promote player health and safety, all individuals within the organization who have regular contact with players are required to complete SafeSport training on an annual basis, including the CEO, President of Business Operations, President of Soccer Operations, and each team’s general manager and coaching staff. The training is designed to help individuals become more proficient at identifying, preventing and responding to misconduct and abuse in sport.”

This is one of the changes mandated by NWSL league-wide that PTFC are just hoping you’ll think was their idea. Not to mention that SafeSport itself has been widely criticized by professional athlete survivors of sexual assault like Aly Raisman as “a complete mess” that is more focused on generating good PR for the leagues and USOC than on protecting players.

• “We expanded our background check process before hiring the new Thorns coaching staff. Background checks are now conducted through the NWSL’s independent third-party investigator, and we pledge to continue to apply this process in any Thorns new hires moving forward.”

Ok first of all, why just Thorns new hires? Why not both clubs? But more importantly background checks are meaningless when you already know an abuser’s background and you decide to renew his contract anyways. Once again, this is a fix that doesn’t address what’s actually broken. It SOUNDS good, but it’s ultimate purpose is to prevent the men in charge from having to accept accountability.

• “A safe and inclusive work environment for all employees is our top priority. We have put in place a confidential and anonymous online reporting system for HR issues, including harassment or discrimination within the organization that is available to all employees, as well as Timbers and Thorns FC players.”

This one’s good! Congratulations! You got 1.75 of them right.

• “We are committed to an environment where everyone is treated with respect and dignity. We condemn, and will investigate, all forms of discrimination and harassment and have created this form so anyone may report an incident or concern to our organization anonymously through this online form.”

The form is a nice idea, but it’s incredibly broad, does not link to the policies related to discrimination and harassment that it references, and if you have any questions or concerns about it, you’re directed to email…Jim McCausland. LOL. But all of this is beside the point because it wasn’t anyone in the stands who sexually abused or physically assaulted or disrespected and demeaned women like Mana and Sinead and Genessis and Madison (more on her next!). This again has nothing to do with what actually happened.

APRIL 3, 2022

Just four days after releasing their “action plan to bolster accountability, equity and engagement” their actions undermined all their pretty PR words. (Yes, I can feel myself getting more editorial and less objective as this timeline progresses. I’ve had to add seven more entries in just 3 months. I’m running out of patience).

At the start of the Timbers’ home match against LA Galaxy, Madison Shanley — a 27 year old singer who has volunteered to perform the national anthem before Timbers and Thorns matches since she was 12 years old — took the field for her performance wearing a bright red tshirt with the phrase “YOU KNEW” emblazoned across the front. These shirts had been sold by the Rose City Riveters supporters group to raise funds for Rose Haven — a day shelter and community center serving women, children and gender non-conforming folks experiencing the trauma of abuse, loss of home and other disruptive life challenges. Following her performance, word began to spread that PTFC was upset with her for wearing the shirt on the field & Madison tweeted about it.

Madison Shanley on Twitter: "It may very well have been my last Anthem for #PTFC given my choice to wear this shirt, but I'm proud of myself. As a DV & SA survivor I felt the need to use my voice in a different way today. #BelieveWomen Photo by @KP_KaylaMarie ❤️🤝💚 #YouKnew pic.twitter.com/weWYaXjshj / Twitter"

It may very well have been my last Anthem for #PTFC given my choice to wear this shirt, but I'm proud of myself. As a DV & SA survivor I felt the need to use my voice in a different way today. #BelieveWomen Photo by @KP_KaylaMarie ❤️🤝💚 #YouKnew pic.twitter.com/weWYaXjshj

Over the next day we would learn that she had been in the locker room area preparing for her performance when she received a text message from her father. PTFC President of Business Mike Golub had called Madison’s dad Terry (rather than call her directly or go find her in the stadium) to pressure him to make Madison — his adult daughter — change her shirt. According to Terry, Golub called the shirt “a middle finger to the organization.” When Terry informed Golub that Madison was a grown woman and he wasn’t going to tell her what to wear, Golub then went and confronted Madison in person before she took the field.

““When I heard that my dad had been contacted, I was like, ‘What in the actual patriarchy is this?’ I am a 27-year-old woman. I have a mind of my own and a voice of my own. I understand that my dad has a relationship with Mike, but Mike also has a relationship with me. I felt really disrespected. It was using something against me. My family is the most important thing in my life besides my sobriety, and I want to make them proud in everything I do.”

Mike was respectful, but very straightforward,” Shanley said. “He asked me if I’d read the full report on Andy Polo, and I said, ‘Yes, I have read the full report.’ I told him I’d heard the full audio recording. He was just wondering if I had all the information I needed to make the decision to take the pitch with a ‘You Knew’ shirt on. I said I was prepared for any consequences, and I asked him if he was going to pull me from singing. He said, no, I can wear what I want and say what I want, but they wanted to let me know their position.”

Shanley said the exchange made her “uncomfortable” and after Golub left she was shaking and began to cry. She pulled herself together to sing the anthem, she said, but broke down in tears again afterward. — ESPN

After her performance, she began to cry again and left the stadium. As word quickly spread about the incident, PTFC again began to spin and make excuses rather than take responsibility for disrespecting a young woman in her workplace. Golub claimed he only called Terry because he didn’t have Madison’s phone number and he assumed they would be together. [Yet, when he called Terry he could simply have asked for her number. Instead he chose to intimidate her face to face.] He went on to state:

“When we learned just prior to the game that Madison, who’s a longtime on-field representative of the club, was intending to wear something that we perceived as inaccurate and harmful to the organization, we felt it was warranted to have a conversation with her and share our feelings.” — Mike Golub

If you’ve managed to read this far into this blog-turned-novel, you’ll know by now that the phrase “YOU KNEW” is entirely accurate in a number of ways, and that it’s the club’s actions (or lack thereof) and not the shirt that is harmful to the organization.

APRIL 14, 2022

Gavin Wilkinson appears on the Soccer Made in Portland podcast being interviewed by Oregonian reporter Ryan Clarke. He gives mostly the same PR responses we’ve heard before, but when asked about the choice to renew Polo’s contract in December, he reveals that the club was hoping to sign and then trade Polo to another team — a hope that fell apart once the story about Polo’s DV broke. Shockingly, Wilkinson seemed to be proud of this fact — seeming to think that it made the club look better because they knew about the one incident in May and therefore were going to trade him away from the Timbers (while seemingly not realizing that in quietly trading an abuser to another team without telling them about his past, they were trying to pull a Paul Riley all over again 3 months after they purportedly “learned their lesson.”)

APRIL 15, 2022

Two weeks later, Madison had a sit down meeting with Mike and two other PTFC representatives. Rather than apologize, they doubled-down on the defensiveness and excuses. Madison walked away from the meeting having made the decision that she would no longer sing the National Anthem for PTFC until she had seen real change and accountability in the org.

“It felt like they were giving me the same PR statements that they’ve been giving to the public — the same words that had been written into these initiatives that they’ve released. It didn’t feel like they were looking me in the eye and speaking from the heart. It felt like they were speaking from a business perspective to somebody who was jeopardizing their business.”

She reported that the closing message she got from Golub in the meeting had been that “Change takes time.”

[How long have you been reading this article now? How much more time do they need? How many more women will be abused and disrespected while they go on their long growth journey?]

APRIL 23 AND 30, 2022

The first of a series of open houses with PTFC leadership are held for select, invited season ticket holders — one with Wilkinson and Golub before a Timbers match and the other with Paulson and LeBlanc before a Thorns match. Both meetings start with a plea from moderator Chris Wilson (VP of member services and ticket strategy) not to record the conversations

“We wanna ask everybody to not record anything. The whole point here is to be candid and open and honest, and for these to keep happening that’s a key part of it for all of us in here, so just no recording so that we can be really forthcoming and honest with all of you.”

Unsurprisingly, both meetings were recorded and shared by multiple attendees. Gavin’s responses when questioned about the fan experience being harmed by perceived cover-ups were quite forceful, while Merritt’s responses were more calm and measured. While I will not reproduce them in full here out of respect for their wish that the conversations remain private with just the invited season ticket holders, I will identify the common themes in their responses:

• Both Merritt and Gavin seem to genuinely believe that people like myself are ignoring “the facts” in order to present an overblown and unfair narrative, and that anything said on social media is to be written off as hyperbole and the results of a few cranks in an echo chamber twisting “the facts.”
• Both Merritt and Gavin believe that the MLS investigation is completely exculpatory and that the NWSL and US Soccer investigations will be as well.
• Gavin took great exception to the phrase “you knew” and demanded several times that someone explain to him precisely what it is that we think he knew. He claimed that his family’s life in Portland has been ruined by all this.
• Merritt took great exception to the phrase “Merritt Paulson Protects Abusers” but caught himself before saying too much and pointed out that there are real victims here and he didn’t want to assert that he was the victim (this is to his credit).
• Both men touched on the fact that they followed legal counsel in not saying anything publicly about Paul Riley’s termination in 2015, with Merritt revealing that Riley had threatened a lawsuit should they do anything that would hinder him finding a new job. They also both took pains to emphasize that this legal counsel was a woman.

[…And therefore can’t have done anything wrong? News flash: women can and often do uphold patriarchy and internalized misoyny. “The lawyer who told us to lie about why we fired Riley was a lady” is not the defense you seem to think it is, fellas]

• Both men pointed to differences between knowing about individual incidents vs. knowing that the person has a pattern or history of abuse— Gavin in regards to the decision to renew Polo’s contract in December and Merritt in regards to maintaining a friendly relationship with Riley for years after firing him.
• Both men used the players as shields against criticism. Gavin spent a great deal of time explaining that “all these players that you love” had privately come to him angry that he had terminated Polo. Merritt, meanwhile, spoke about the “condescension” of fans questioning whether the statements from players had been influenced by the FO. LeBlanc also focused the vast majority of her responses on the fact that supporter passion fuels the players so if we care about the players we need to find a way back to being passionate in the stands.
• Both men leaned heavily on insisting that we trust their intentions, rather than acknowledging that great harm can be done even if your intentions are good. There was a consistent drumbeat in every answer that PTFC is “the standard” and has “done so much for the women’s game, globally” which seemed to be used as reason they believe they still deserve the benefit of the doubt. They don’t believe they did anything wrong, and if they accidentally did do something wrong, they didn’t mean to, and if the fans were honest and cared about the facts as much as they care about petty grievance, they would see that they are good people. There’s a fundamental lack of understanding that good, well-meaning people can still uphold patriarchy and misogyny, and that intentions don’t negate unintentional effects.

PHEW.

If you made it to the end of this timeline, I’m impressed. It took me almost a week to compile all of this initially, and it just keeps growing and growing. Thank you for caring enough about the victims of sexual abuse and domestic violence to pay attention to this.

As a reminder, this timeline has been focused solely on the abuse allegations around Paul Riley and Andy Polo. In light of these cover-ups by PTFC it would be reasonable to re-visit several earlier incidents where the benefit of the doubt we gave to PTFC may not have been warranted. What don’t we know about yet? This certainly raises questions about the FO’s handing of Hanyer Mosquera’s dismissal, Will Johnson’s domestic violence incident after being traded to Orlando, Jorge Valencia’s arrest, the sexual assault allegation against an (unnamed) player in Kansas City in 2013, maybe even Ridgewell and Gleeson’s DUI incident and Brian Fernandez’s substance abuse. What did PTFC know and when did they know it? Given the accusations about Wilkinson’s conversation with Mana Shim, it also seems fair to question why the two most outspoken players on the Timbers when it comes to progressive politics (and beloved fan-favorites) — Jeremy Ebobisse and Zarek Valentin — were unceremoniously traded mid-season and left unprotected in an expansion draft (respectively).

This ALSO leaves out other objectionable decisions that PTFC has made in recent years, from starting an MLS-wide war with supporters over the Iron Front symbol in stadiums, to dragging their feet on and refusing to enforce masking and vaccination requirements in Providence Park, to the handling of ticketing for MLS Cup 2021, to cutting off communication with the 107ist in the wake of these cover-ups coming to light. There is an arrogance and open antagonism towards supporters seeping from the top levels of the organization and poisoning the entire club. Just 4 short years ago there were reportedly about 13,000 people on the waitlist for Timbers season tickets. For the 2022 season as of publication there are now season tickets available with no wait in all sections and individual game tickets are being offered BOGO at gas stations.

Running a club that had been established since 1975 with a built in, rabid fanbase should be a walk in the park. You have to work hard to destroy good will as fast as Merritt Paulson, Mike Golub, Gavin Wilkinson and the rest of the PTFC C-suite have. While their intentions may have been pure, the harm they’ve done to our community is going to reverberate for a long time and it’s hard to see how any healing can begin as long as they have suffered no professional repercussions for their failures.

SOURCES:

Mana Shim profile in the Oregonian, 2014 (Goldberg): https://www.oregonlive.com/portland-thorns/2014/03/portland_thorns_lively_and_tou.html

Riley Abuse Allegations in The Athletic, 2021 (Linehan): https://theathletic.com/2857633/2021/09/30/this-guy-has-a-pattern-amid-institutional-failure-former-nwsl-players-accuse-prominent-coach-of-sexual-coercion/?source=user_shared_article

Riley Abuse Allegations in The Oregonian, 2021 (Goldberg): https://www.oregonlive.com/portland-thorns/2021/10/portland-thorns-owner-merritt-paulson-apologizes-announces-independent-investigation-in-wake-of-paul-riley-allegations.html

PTFC Announces Riley’s Departure, The Oregonian 2015: https://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/2015/09/portland_thorns_part_ways_with.html

WNYF Announces Riley’s Hiring, The Equalizer, 2016: https://equalizersoccer.com/2016/02/19/paul-riley-named-wny-flash-head-coach-nwsl/

Andy Polo Allegations Revealed in The Oregonian, 2022: https://www.oregonlive.com/sports/2022/02/portland-timbers-terminate-andy-polos-contract-after-ex-wife-claims-club-knew-from-the-beginning-about-domestic-violence.html

Further Details of Andy Polo Allegations in The Athletic, 2022: https://theathletic.com/3125800/2022/02/11/andy-polo-domestic-violence-allegations-raise-numerous-questions-about-timbers-mls-response/?source=user_shared_article

Larger Problem of NWSL Failing its players, ESPN (Murray): https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-nwsl/story/4491356/nwsls-paul-riley-scandal-points-to-a-bigger-problem-in-which-league-repeatedly-fails-its-players

NWSLPA Statement and Demands: https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-nwsl/story/4487691/nwsl-players-association-calls-for-inquiry-into-allegations-against-coach-paul-riley

NC Courage Fire Paul Riley: https://www.si.com/soccer/2021/09/30/paul-riley-fired-report-sexual-coercion-with-ex-players

Lisa Baird Resigns as NWSL Commissioner and Steps Down from USSF Board of Directors: https://www.espn.com/soccer/united-states-nwsl/story/4491397/former-nwsl-commissioner-lisa-baird-resigns-from-us-soccer-board-of-directors-sources

107ist boycott and demands: https://107ist.org/Blog/11143293

MLS Cup ticket presale only available to STHs who renew for 2022:https://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/2021/12/portland-timbers-respond-to-fan-confusion-frustration-with-mls-cup-ticketing-process.html

Timbers re-sign Polo to a new contract: https://www.stumptownfooty.com/platform/amp/2021/12/13/22832480/timbers-announce-contract-decisions-for-2022

Polo’s response to the allegations made by Alarcon in Peruvian media: https://twitter.com/DMontalvan/status/1491862917532332043?s=20&t=95v7HUwezTFKrlOl39pgbg

Statistics on false reporting of domestic violence and sexual abuse: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/mar/13/false-allegations-rape-domestic-violence-rare

Alarcon’s first interview on Peruvian TV show [content warning! Photos of DV injuries]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfNjI8nrwUE

Oregonian confirms Polo police report & suspension: https://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/2022/02/portland-timbers-andy-polo-accused-of-domestic-violence-suspended-by-mls.html

Athletic confirms Polo Police Report: https://theathletic.com/3125800/2022/02/11/andy-polo-domestic-violence-allegations-raise-numerous-questions-about-timbers-mls-response/

Athletic confirms MLS is investigating PTFC: https://theathletic.com/news/timbers-didnt-report-andy-polo-domestic-violence-allegations-to-mls-before-made-public-source/Kvxl2Sw7OndH/

ESPN revelation that PTFC bribed Alarcon not to press charges against Polo: https://www.espn.com/soccer/portland-timbers/story/4613303/portland-timbers-offered-inducements-to-not-pursue-charges-against-andy-polo-genessis-alarcon?platform=amp

Oregonian article on Christine Mascal’s resignation from the OCVLC following victim blaming on the stand: https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2019/04/steve-duin-mascal-and-victim-rights-group-part-ways.html

ESPN write up on MLS investigation into Polo incident: https://www.espn.com/soccer/portland-timbers/story/4627738/mls-portland-timbers-didnt-induce-genessis-alarcon-to-not-press-domestic-violence-charges-against-andy-polo

FULL MLS REPORT on Polo Internal Investigation: https://mlssoccer.app.box.com/s/2s70su4mfd7pwwjecglehcv23npupf5u

The Nation: Questions Remain About Coercion in Polo Incident: https://www.thenation.com/article/society/portland-timbers-sexual-misconduct-mls/

ESPN: Madison Shanley Challenges FO: https://www.espn.com/soccer/portland-timbers/story/4634668/anthem-singer-for-portland-timbers-challenges-club-on-domestic-violence-charge

Wilkinson Interview on SMIP: https://www.oregonlive.com/timbers/2022/04/soccer-made-in-portland-podcast-timbers-gm-gavin-wilkinson.html

Portland Mercury: Madison Shanley Walks Away: https://www.portlandmercury.com/blogtown/2022/04/15/40461662/madison-shanley-announces-she-will-no-longer-sing-national-anthem-for-timbers-or-thorns