"Ultimately, we could have done more, which is particularly hard to say as the team that we have held as the highest standard in women's professional soccer in the world," Paulson wrote, acknowledging that what had transpired after Shim filed a formal complaint with the Thorns was a "systemic failure" across the league. "I apologize to Mana, Sinead and everyone else who is hurting as a result." He outlined eight steps the team was taking to improve safety and wellbeing, including creating an anonymous reporting system.
He also noted that the lack of transparency surrounding Riley's release from the Thorns in 2015 was out of "respect for player privacy," a point that former Thorns player Kat Williamson took issue with on Twitter, sharing a screenshot of a tweet from Paulson, in which he congratulated Riley on his success with the Courage in 2017.
