KC Current fires head of medical for relationship with a player

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Current has fired the head of their medical department, Carlos Jimenez, for violating the NWSL’s non-fraternization policy, the club confirmed on Wednesday.

The Athletic first reported that the policy violation concerned a relationship with a player, which the Current also confirmed.

“We can confirm that Carlos Jimenez is no longer an employee of the Kansas City Current,” the Current released in a statement. “When we learned of his actions in violation of club and league policies, he was immediately terminated. We remain committed to making sure our policies and practices ensure a safe space for our players and our staff.”

“Obviously it’s not something that we want to see in our organization. It’s not something you want to see in our sport in our league,” head coach Vlatko Andonovski said on Thursday. “It’s not something that we want to see anywhere in any organization. It’s unfortunate, but I’m happy how well our organization dealt with it how promptly they dealt with everything, and how professional they were with the process.

“Once again, it’s very unfortunate that this thing happened in a moment when this game is exciting. It’s exciting with everything that we do on the field, it’s exciting with everything that we do off the field. We really have momentum and with everything that is going on with the new stadium, with the results that we have. The culture on the team is amazing. The players are happy. I mean, everything that you can wish for, for a team organization, and we’re just not gonna let this drag us down. We’re gonna deal with this like we did promptly and we’ll have to move on.”

The NWSL instituted a non-fraternization policy along with a policy on workplace discrimination, harassment, and bullying . This was part of the league’s reformation efforts following the allegations of sexual coercion against former North Carolina Courage head coach Paul Riley and the joint investigation that came after the allegations.

The non-fraternization policy states that NWSL supervisors “may not engage in, develop, continue, or pursue any romantic and/or sexual relationships or encounters, even when consensual, with any employee (including NWSL players or trialists) over whom they currently have direct or indirect supervisory authority or management influence.”

The policy applies to all NWSL personnel which includes players, coaches, owners, managers, trainers, assistants, and any employees or other associated personnel of the league.

Jimenez joined the club in December of 2023 after a 10-month stint as a physical therapist with the Washington Spirit. Before that, he spent a little over a year as a sports science/rehab consultant for the University of Arizona’s womens soccer program.

He also worked for the U.S. womens national team from 2019 to 2021.

Jimenez is the second NWSL team staff member to be dismissed for violations of the policy this year. In March, the league announced that the Houston Dash had fired goalkeeping coach Matt Lampson after an investigation concerning NWSL policy violations.

The league found that Lampson violated the non-fraternization policy and the code of conduct for NWSL coaches, and suspended him through the remainder of the 2024 season.

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