An investigation into decades-old domestic violence involving former U.S. men's national team coach Gregg Berhalter unearthed more details of Berhalter's 1992 assault of his now-wife, and revealed how the parents of USMNT star Gio Reyna forced those details back into the limelight.
The investigation, which was commissioned by U.S. Soccer and carried out by attorneys at the Alston & Bird law firm, cleared Berhalter of further wrongdoing beyond the 1992 incident, which Berhalter publicly detailed in January. And U.S. Soccer, in a statement released alongside the report, said that Berhalter "remains a candidate to serve as head coach" of the USMNT going forward.
But on that January night in 1992, while drinking as 18-year-old college students at a bar called Players in North Carolina, Berhalter and his then-girlfriend, Rosalind, "began to argue inside the bar," Alston & Bird investigators wrote in their report. "They left the bar together and continued to argue; once outside, Mrs. Berhalter hit Mr. Berhalter in the face; Mr. Berhalter pushed her to the ground and kicked her twice; Mr. Berhalter was tackled by a passerby, not known to either of the Berhalters."
Beyond those details, the investigative report, which U.S. Soccer released Monday, largely corroborated Gregg Berhalter's public account of the aftermath, which included a reconciliation between Gregg and Rosalind seven months later.
"Mr. Berhalter acknowledged his culpability and his need to be accountable the day after the incident occurred in 1992," the investigating attorneys wrote. "The witnesses further confirmed that Mr. Berhalter immediately self-reported the assault to his head coach at UNC the day after the 1992 Incident occurred, and, of his own accord, took steps to prevent it from happening again."
The investigation, on the other hand, often contradicted public statements given by Claudio and Danielle Reyna, the parents of Gio and longtime friends of the Berhalters, who told U.S. Soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart about the 1992 incident on a Dec. 11 phone call amid frustration over Gio's lack of playing time at the World Cup.
But that was not an isolated call; investigators found that Claudio had a "pattern of periodic outreach" to U.S. Soccer officials "to convey certain complaints and comments about U.S. Soccer’s treatment of his children, including primarily his son."
That behavior began as early as 2016, when Gio was a U.S. youth player. It continued during the World Cup. After the USMNT's opener against Wales, in which Gio did not play, Claudio and Danielle "each made a vague comment to U.S. Soccer officials suggesting they knew damaging information about Mr. Berhalter that U.S. Soccer did not know."
The World Cup drama seemed to have subsided by early December as the USMNT was eliminated in the Round of 16. Then, en route back home from Qatar, Berhalter stopped in New York and attended the HOW Institute for Society's Summit on Moral Leadership. During a session that he believed was essentially off the record, he told a story about how he'd almost sent a misbehaving U.S. player home during the World Cup. He did not name the player, but hours after his comments were published on Dec. 11, subsequent reports confirmed that the player was Gio.
As Berhalter's comments and those reports circulated, the investigation found, Claudio "sent a series of text messages" to Stewart. Both Claudio and Danielle then spoke with Stewart on the phone. "Mr. Stewart explained that, near the end of an hour-long phone call with the Reynas, Mrs. Reyna alleged that Mr. Berhalter had physically assaulted his then girlfriend and now wife, Rosalind Santana Berhalter, in the 1990s," investigators wrote. Stewart told investigators that Danielle told him that Gregg “beat the s*** out of” Rosalind during their freshman year of college.
Stewart reported the allegation that night. U.S. Soccer tabbed Alston & Bird to lead the investigation. A few weeks later, U.S. Soccer announced that, while the investigation was ongoing, its scope had broadened to include "potential inappropriate behavior towards multiple members of our staff by individuals outside of our organization."
Prior to the investigation, Berhalter was the strong favorite to retain his job as USMNT coach for another four years, through the 2026 World Cup. But the investigation muddied his future and put U.S. Soccer's post-World Cup processes on hold. Berhalter's contract expired on Dec. 31.
In early January, federation officials said he remained a candidate to lead the team going forward, and Berhalter said he'd "like to continue in my role." But then Stewart, the man who originally hired him in 2018 and now had the power to re-hire him, left his post to take a job at PSV Eindhoven in the Netherlands.
With McBride also leaving — a decision he says he made back in October — Berhalter has lost two of his biggest allies within U.S. Soccer. He appears to be a longshot for a second cycle as USMNT coach, but that decision, according to U.S. Soccer, will be up to the new sporting director.
In its Monday statement, U.S. Soccer said that interviews for the sporting director role are underway.
U.S. Soccer also said that the investigation "identifies a need to revisit U.S. Soccer’s policies concerning appropriate parental conduct and communications with staff at the National Team level. We will be updating those policies as we continue to work to ensure safe environments for all participants in our game."
