Sporting Kansas City said Friday that it was no longer moving forward with its hire of former Portland Timbers and Thorns executive Gavin Wilkinson.
The MLS club announced last week that it was hiring Wilkinson to be the team’s sporting director. Wilkinson previously served as the Timbers’ general manager and president of soccer for both the Timbers and Thorns until he was fired in 2022.
Wilkinson was removed from his role in Portland amid loud calls for his ouster after investigations into his role in covering up the sexual misconduct of former Portland Thorns head coach Paul Riley and the organization’s role in not communicating domestic abuse allegations against a Timbers midfielder to the league.
Wilkinson’s hire in Kansas City was met with immediate scorn from Sporting Kansas City supporter groups after it was announced and SKC made it clear in its statement that it had heard that pushback.
“In making this difficult decision, we want to first acknowledge the passion of our fans, our community of supporters, our partners and our stakeholders,” Sporting KC owner Michael Illig said in a statement. “Together, they comprise our deeply valued Sporting family. Our action today demonstrates our longstanding, unequivocal respect for their voices, and the belief that we are all stronger when we listen to one another.”
“We ran a diligent and exhaustive process to identify our new sporting director. It was grounded in the deeply-held principles and standards we have adhered to since the day we acquired the team.”
“That said, the impassioned response from our fans reinforced to us a fundamental philosophy that has driven us since day one: to honor and protect our valued relationships. It is in that spirit that we take this action today, reflective of our abiding appreciation for our unrivaled SKC fans and our Kansas City community.”
Per a U.S. Soccer investigation into the way Portland handled Riley’s actions, Wilkinson recommended Riley for the Western New York Flash’s head coaching position after Riley was fired for cause by the Thorns in 2015. Riley was accused of fostering a hostile work environment as coach of the Thorns, had sent a player sexually explicit text messages saying he wanted to have a sexual relationship with her and that he asked two players to kiss in front of the team.
In an email to Riley after his…