Former North Carolina Courage midfielder Heather O'Reilly described the club's management structure under head coach Paul Riley, who was fired last week after allegations of sexual misconduct and verbal abuse, as "just dangerous."

The longtime United States women's national team player told BBC World Service Riley was part of a larger problem within women's soccer throughout the U.S. as the sport's power brokers hid issues in an effort to help the National Women's Soccer League survive.

"I think women's football has swept a lot of bad things under the rug because we want the league to succeed," O'Reilly said Friday. "We want to continue our personal careers, and there's not as many opportunities for players to be professional footballers, so I think that's a reason why a lot of things are just dealt with. As a player, you just take it."

Meg Linehan of The Athletic spoke to more than a dozen of Riley's former players—including Mana Shim and Sinead Farrelly, who went on record with allegations of sexual coercion—and 10 other sources within women's soccer who interacted with the 58-year-old Englishman during his three-decade coaching career in the U.S.

Farrelly said she and Riley had sex on multiple occasions after he engaged in a cycle of praising and criticizing her that made her feel as though she couldn't refuse. Shim said Riley praised and criticized her in a similar cycle. He then allegedly invited her to study film in his hotel room, but when she arrived he was only wearing underwear. She said she left the room.

"My first reaction was, 'Holy s--t. This all makes sense. This guy has a pattern. Holy s--t. He's still coaching in the league. We have to do something,'" Shim told Linehan about when she learned Farrelly had dealt with similar problems to her while playing for Riley.

Two-time FIFA Women's World Cup winner Alex Morgan echoed O'Reilly's belief that certain issues were purposely overlooked in the name of trying to get the NWSL to succeed.

"There definitely has been this shared idea that because two leagues have folded in the past, the NWSL is kind of the last hope for a women's soccer league," Morgan told The Athletic. "Because of that, I feel like there's this idea that we should be grateful for what we have and we shouldn't raise important questions—or ask questions at all."

Riley responded to the allegations by saying a majority of them are "completely untrue" and stating he never had sex with players and didn't attempt to coerce them into having sex with him.

"There's a chance I've said something along the way that offended someone," he wrote in a statement to Linehan. "I do not belittle my players, comment on their weight, or discuss their personal relationships."

Riley was fired by the Courage in the wake of the allegations. The NWSL also accepted the resignation of commissioner Lisa Baird after Morgan posted an email where Baird said a prior investigation into Riley was closed and wouldn't provide any further details despite efforts by Shim and Farrelly to come forward with their stories to the league. NWSL general counsel Lisa Levine was also removed from her role.

FIFA and U.S. Soccer are among the governing bodies that launched an investigation into suggestions the NWSL overlooked the players' allegations.

O'Reilly, who played for Riley in North Carolina during the 2018 and 2019 seasons, said he had too much control at the club, which left players "worried for their jobs and careers."

"That lack of checks and balances I think is what helped spur this problem, because no one individual should have that power," she told the BBC. "Nobody should be dealing with playing time and also contracts, and health and wellness. It's just dangerous."

The 2021 NWSL season resumed Wednesday amid the investigations after last weekend's matches were postponed.