Paul Riley, Christy Holly, Rory Dames and Richie Burke have been permanently excluded by NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman following the findings from the review.

Craig Harrington, former head coach of the Utah Royals, and Alyse LaHue, former general manager of Gotham Football Club, were given two-year bans for unwanted sexual advances too.

Harrington and LaHue cannot return after their respective sanctions until they acknowledge wrongdoing, accept personal responsibility for inappropriate conduct, participate in training and show evidence of correcting behaviour.

Six teams have been fined following the fallout of the review, with another two mentioned in the report, but without penalties.

The highest of these goes to Chicago Red Stars, who face a bill of $1.5 million (£1.23 million/€1.4 million), with Portland Thorns forced to pay $1 million (£820,000/€930,000).

Racing Louisville, North Carolina Courage, OL Reign and Gotham FC were fined too.

Washington Spirit avoided further action due to Y. Michele Kang taking over the club from disgraced former owner Steve Baldwin; and the report found no retaliation from the club at Kansas City Current towards players over their concerns.

Riley was sacked by North Carolina Courage in September 2021 due to very "serious allegations of misconduct" and the following day had his coaching license suspended by the United States Soccer Federation (USSF).

He was accused of sexual coercion at several clubs, having managed women's teams as far back as 2006.

Allegations of coercion are dated back as far back as 2011.

Christy Holly, who was asked to step down as manager of Sky Blue Football Club - now known as Gotham FC - in 2017 due to complaints about verbal and emotional abuse, was fired last year as the head coach of Racing Louisville due to sexual abuse accusations.

Former Racing player Erin Simon accused him of sexual coercion and sexual harassment.

According to the October 2022 Yates Report conducted by the USSF, Holly "repeated the same pattern of misconduct throughout his coaching career at both Sky Blue FC & Racing Louisville".

He is said to have sent Simon explicit photos and requested her to come to his home to review match footage, "and showed her pornography, while masturbating in front of her before she left".

Holly also never completed the licensing required to coach in the NWSL.

Dames' abuse goes back to a 1998 police report which alleged the coach touched a youth player inappropriately.

Allegations state a young player was groomed into having sex with the coach when she turned 18, while she was still managed by him.

The police report also accused Dames of pinching female players who would not give him a massage and punching a boy in the stomach.

Police closed the investigation after his accusers decided not to file formally and prosecutors declined to continue the case.

This was during his tenure as the director of coaching and player development at youth team Chicago Eclipse Select, of which he was the founder and remained affiliated with on-pitch activities until 2021 when allegations surfaced.

Sarah Uyenishi, his wife, played at the Select from the age of 14.

Dames was the Chicago Red Stars manager for 10 years before resigning the same day The Washington Post published an article related to abuse of current and former Red Stars players.

Burke was the former manager of Washington Spirit and was accused by several players of harassment and abusive behaviour, including making homophobic and racially-insensitive remarks.

One of these included suggesting to players kneeling in protest of the Black Lives Matter cause, that they should put a white training dummy underneath their knee - referring to the murder of George Floyd.

Four players left the club due to the way they were treated.

"The league will continue to prioritise implementing and enhancing the policies, programmes and systems that put the health and safety of our players first," said NWSL Commissioner Berman. 

"Those actions are fundamental to the future of our league, especially as we build a league that strengthens our players' ability to succeed and prosper on and off the pitch. 

"As part of our commitment to accountability and deterrence, the league has determined that further corrective action with respect to certain organisations and individuals identified in the Joint Investigative Report is appropriate and necessary."

Harrington was accused of making sexual comments towards his players and attempting to get them to go out drinking with him.

LaHue is alleged to have sent inappropriate messages to a player, being persistent with unwanted sexual advances.

Farid Benstiti, James Clarkson, Vera Pauw, Amanda Cromwell, Sam Greene and Aline Reis will not be given suspensions for their found misconduct, but cannot return until they satisfy the same conditions as Harrington and LaHue.

Their misconduct ranges from weight obsession and bullying to emotional abuse.

Pauw led Ireland to its first-ever FIFA Women's World Cup, set to take place later this year, but denies excessively controlling the weight of her players, when she worked in the United States.

The NWSL published reform commitments last month, including improved communication with the NWSL Players' Association, strengthening its anti-harassment policy, creating a whistleblower hotline and improve its vetting procedures for new hires.