The U.S. football team fired the coach, raising allegations of sexual harassment of athletes

The North Carolina daredevil women’s soccer team, which is embroiled in controversy over the U.S. championship, sacked its coach Paul Riley on Thursday at the age of 58. The coach has been accused of sexual harassment for more than a decade and inappropriate comments regarding the sexual orientation and weight of his players.

The announcement follows an investigation report published by the Athletes website, which reveals the allegations of a dozen athletes from each team led by Riley.

“In light of the allegations made in today’s report, North Carolina Garage Technology Commander Paul Riley has been fired with immediate action, following allegations of misconduct,” the group wrote in an official statement on its social media sites. The club also announced that Sean Nahas will serve as interim coach until the end of the championship.

North Carolina Courage says in a statement that it fully supports athletes who take the courage to express themselves, condemn themselves and boldly share their stories. The United States Football Association announced the immediate termination of the relay license to manage teams. In its statement, the organization justified that “the misconduct described by the brave players who went public is hateful, unacceptable and has no place in football and society.”

Earlier on Thursday, the league’s National Football Association began an investigation into the allegations. In a brief email to Athletic, Riley defended himself by saying only that the allegations were “completely false.”