US coach Berhalter likely assaulted now-wife, report finds

NEW YORK — The U.S. Soccer Federation said Gregg Berhalter remains a candidate to stay on as men’s national team coach after a report by a law firm concluded that he did not improperly withhold information about a 1992 domestic violence allegation involving the women who later became his wife.

The report also concluded that Berhalter's conduct “likely constituted the misdemeanor crime of assault on a female.”

The firm Alston and Bird was retained after former U.S. captain Claudio Reyna and wife Danielle Egan Reyna, the parents of current American midfielder Gio Reyna, went to the USSF with allegations of the 1992 incident following the decision by Berhalter to use Gio Reyna sparingly at last year’s World Cup.

The firm concluded the Reynas were not guilty of extortion but said Claudio Reyna’s conduct might have violated provisions of FIFA's code of ethics for conflicts of interest, protection of physical and mental integrity, and abuse of position.