NWSL's Washington Spirit suspend former coach Richie Burke after abuse allegations

The Washington Spirit of the National Women's Soccer League raised eyes on Tuesday when they announced that head coach Richie Burke was stepping down from his post and eventually joining the sporting operations front office staff for reasons related to his health. 

That situation took a turn on Wednesday. 

Molly Hensley-Clancy of the Washington Post reports multiple Washington players allege Burke of verbal and emotional abuse that include "threats, criticism and personal insults" and the use of "racially insensitive jokes" and slurs. The Spirit have since released a new statement: 

On the heels of our announcement yesterday that Coach Burke was resigning, a Washington Post reporter contacted the Spirit with allegations of mistreatment — verbal and emotional abuse leveled at players — by Coach Burke. We take these allegations very seriously and are undertaking an immediate investigation. Burke has been suspended pending the investigation and is prohibited from contacting players and staff and our facilities. We, as a team, will not tolerate any situation for our players and staff that is less than professional. Our athletes, and all of those who support them, deserve the absolute best." 

The damning Washington Post story states at least four players left the club in the past two years because of Burke’s alleged abuse. Kaiya McCullough and also two other anonymous former Spirit players reached out to the Post to discuss Burke and detail the alleged emotional abuse. 

McCullough later addressed the story via Twitter: