September 12 – US coaching heavyweight Bruce Arena has resigned as New England Revolution head coach and sporting director, following complaints over “insensitive and inappropriate remarks.”
Arena, 71, has been at the top of the US men’s game since 1996 when he joined the US team as an U23 coach and took charge of D.C. United in the inaugural season of the MLS.
At the beginning of August, Arena was placed on administrative leave as the MLS opened an investigation into the allegations regarding the unspecified comments he allegedly made. The MLS “confirmed certain of these allegations”.
His assistant at New England Revolution, Richie Williams, has been the team’s interim head coach.
In a club statement announcing his resignation Arena said: “I know that I have made some mistakes and moving forward, I plan to spend some time reflecting on this situation and taking corrective steps to address what has transpired.
“And while this has not been an easy decision, I am confident that it is in the best interest of both the New England Revolution organization and my family that we part ways at this time.”
Arena had been in his fifth season in charge of the Revolution. He holds the record of the most wins of any manager in the MLS with 262.
He won five MLS Cups, two with D.C. United (1996, 1997) and three with the LA Galaxy (2011, 2012, 2014) who he coached from 2008 to 2016. He also coached the New York red Bulls for two seasons.
Arena had two spells as the US national team coach leading them to the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals, and qualifying for 2006 but exiting in the group stage.
He returned to the US team in 2016, halfway through the US’s ultimately unsuccessful qualifying campaign for the 2018 World Cup.
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