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Gregg Berhalter remains candidate as coach after U.S. Soccer investigation

Updated Mar. 13, 2023 7:29 p.m. ET

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Doug McIntyre

Soccer Journalist

Gregg Berhalter remains a candidate to return as USMNT coach.

More than two months after a dispute between the U.S.'s 2022 World Cup coach and former national teamers Claudio and Danielle Reyna — the parents of current U.S. midfielder Gio Reyna and longtime friends of Berhalter and his family — exploded into the public sphere, the findings of the independent investigation into the controversy have been released.

U.S. Soccer on Monday released the report authored by law firm Alston & Bird, which was commissioned in December after Danielle Reyna informed then U.S. Soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart about a 1992 instance of domestic violence between Berhalter and his now wife, Rosalind. The scope of the firm’s investigation expanded the following month to include the Reynas’ interactions with members of the federation’s staff, including Stewart and then USMNT general manager Brian McBride.

The review drew several conclusions.

For one, it confirmed FOX Sports’ reporting from January: years before Claudio Reyna inappropriately reached out to U.S. Soccer officials to complain about Gio Reyna’s playing time during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, he’d done the same thing on multiple occasions previously, most notably during the 2019 under-17 World Cup in which Gio participated.

"Investigation witnesses described a pattern of periodic outreach by Mr. Reyna to U.S. Soccer officials and staff from in or around 2016 through the end of 2022, the purpose of which was to convey certain complaints and comments about U.S. Soccer’s treatment of his children, including primarily his son, USMNT player Gio Reyna," it said.

"Witnesses reported that Mr. Reyna’s past actions involved attempts to influence decisions by U.S. Soccer officials and staff concerning his children on issues ranging from travel arrangements to the impact of on-pitch refereeing decisions."

It found that both Berhalters were cooperative and transparent during December interviews with the firm, and that their descriptions of the 1992 incident were consistent both with each other and with accounts from those they told about it at the time. Further, the investigation concluded that it "was an isolated event, and we find no evidence to suggest that Mr. Berhalter has engaged in similar misconduct at any other time."

Gregg Berhalter wasn’t obligated to disclose the incident, which wasn’t reported to police, to U.S. Soccer before being hired as USMNT coach in 2018 or during another routine background check two years later, the report said. Jay Berhalter, a former USSF chief commercial officer and Gregg’s older brother, knew about the altercation but also didn’t have to disclose it to other federation officials.

While both Berhalters cooperated with investigators, the Reynas were less forthcoming. Claudio Reyna refused to be interviewed by Alston & Bird. Danielle Reyna had "two brief calls" with Alston & Bird, according to the report. In the first, she denied telling Stewart about the incident involving the Berhalters. In the second she admitted she had — a revelation she made public in early January. Danielle Reyna, Rosalind Berhalter’s roommate at the University of North Carolina at the time, said she didn’t witness the altercation and that "I honestly, truly believe that Gregg never had an incident like that with Rosalind again." 

The investigation found that the Reynas revealed the incident to Stewart to prevent Berhalter from having his contract with U.S. Soccer extended. (His previous deal expired on Dec. 31.) "The information was disclosed at a time when it would be expected to discourage or otherwise influence the organization from offering a contract extension to Mr. Berhalter," the authors wrote. "Stewart explained during the investigation that he believed the Reynas made this disclosure to him so that U.S. Soccer would not hire Mr. Berhalter for another term."

Still, the report also concluded that the Reynas’ behavior didn’t break any laws. "After the fact of this investigation was made public, some media reports characterized the Reynas’ actions as ‘blackmail,’" the authors wrote. "As a legal matter, we do not arrive at the same conclusion … we obtained no information that could suggest that the Reynas demanded to receive something of value in exchange for not disclosing information about Mr. Berhalter to others."

The Reynas’ communications didn’t even violate any existing U.S. Soccer policies. Expect some of those to change as a direct result of the spat. 

"The report also identifies a need to revisit U.S. Soccer’s policies concerning appropriate parental conduct and communications with staff at the national team level," the USSF said in a statement.  "We will be updating those policies as we continue to work to ensure safe environments for all participants in our game." 

Berhalter also didn’t violate any U.S. Soccer or SafeSport polices by not reporting the incident from 1992, the report said. It also determined that the federation would not be at risk of any civil liability should it choose to rehire Berhalter.

"We are not aware of any legal theory that could hold an employer liable for an incident that occurred more than 25 years before he joined the organization and was not repeated at any subsequent time."

Doug McIntyre is a soccer writer for FOX Sports. Before joining FOX Sports in 2021, he was a staff writer with ESPN and Yahoo Sports and he has covered United States men’s and women’s national teams at multiple FIFA World Cups. Follow him on Twitter @ByDougMcIntyre.

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