In addition to his job at the Orange team, the 35-year-old Parsons remains head coach of American club Portland Thorns. The coach who succeeded him there in 2015, Paul Riley, was accused of sexual assault by former club players last week.
“Only after my appointment was it explained to me that the coach had been fired after there was an incident investigation. He was never allowed to work at the club again,” says Parsons. They declined to comment further, including on the nature of the incident.
According to a spokesperson, KNVB was also not aware of the matter when the association came to Mark Parsons earlier this year in search of a successor to Sarina Wiegman. “So we mainly talked about technical matters of football, as is the norm in appointing a national coach.”
The Englishman started after the Olympics with the Orange Lionesses, and also finished the season with the Portland Thorns. As of the end of November, it will focus entirely on orange lionesses.
KNVB is shocked
Former footballers Snead Farrelly and Miliana Shim revealed in the magazine last week the athlete That they were abused by Paul Riley. The Englishman, who denies the allegations, was expelled from his current club, North Carolina Courage, after the allegations were made.
After Farrelly and Shem, more footballers from the United States, Australia and Venezuela came out with stories of aggressive behavior. In the NWSL, the case led to the departure of board chairwoman Lisa Bird, who would have ignored signs of abuse for years.
The Portland Thorns of Parsons FC have suspended football chief Gavin Wilkinson pending the results of an outside investigation into the case.
“Mark Parsons and KNVB are shocked by the stories about cross-border behavior in international women’s football,” a spokesperson said. “It’s horrific for our sport and especially for the victims.” KNVB says it has not received any reports from the sexual harassment hotline in response to the international disclosure.
