Alexis Ohanian gets sports award, calls for reforms in NWSL

NEW YORK (AP) — Alexis Ohanian called out the need for a safe work environment in the National Women's Soccer League while receiving the Champions for Equality Award at the annual Salute to Women in Sports event on Wednesday night.

The former executive chairman of Reddit is a founding investor of the newest women’s professional soccer team, Angel City FC in Los Angeles. He was accompanied by his wife Serena Williams and daughter Olympia.

“As a club owner, as a husband and as a father, I have been disgusted by what’s been brought to light as part of this ongoing investigation," he said. “I'm hopeful it will lead to necessary reform.”

He praised the players in the NWSL who are demanding accountability and changes after last week's report from an independent investigation highlighted systemic sexual misconduct and emotional abuse. The investigation detailed administrative reporting failures in the sport, impacting several teams, coaches and executives in the league.

“It's to their strength, their bravery and their courage that we're going to get a better NWSL,” Ohanian said to cheers at the Women's Sports Foundation's event in Manhattan.

Five of the 10 head coaches in the NWSL either were fired or stepped down last season amid allegations of misconduct. Two owners have recently stepped away from their teams.

Ohanian said he watched the U.S. women win the 2019 World Cup and mused about how Olympia might someday play in a World Cup: “Serena said, without missing a beat, ‘Not until they pay her what she’s worth.'”

Ohanian is part of the majority-female Angel City FC ownership group that includes Williams, Natalie Portman, Mia Hamm, Abby Wambach, Julie Foudy, America Ferrera, Uzo Aduba, Candace Parker and Billie Jean King, among others.

Foudy, a two-time U.S. World Cup...