Gregg Berhalter and the Reyna family: A timeline of events leading to U.S. Soccer investigation

Note: This timeline has been updated to reflect The Athletic’s June 15 report that Gregg Berhalter will return as USMNT manager. Berhalter issued this statement, he said, because an “individual contacted U.S. Soccer” during the most recent World Cup saying “they had information about me that would ‘take me down’” in “an effort to leverage something very personal from long ago to bring about the end of my relationship with U.S. Soccer.” On January 4, the other shoe dropped: the informant was Danielle Reyna, mother of U.S. starlet Giovanni, while her husband, Austin FC sporting director and former U.S. men’s national team captain Claudio, had also spoken with U.S. Soccer leadership. February 2016: According to Alston & Bird’s investigation, Claudio Reyna began what was deemed a “pattern of periodic outreach” to U.S. Soccer officials which would continue all the way through the 2022 World Cup. One redacted interviewee told Alston & Bird that Reyna’s historical outreach was “bullying” and “mean-spirited,” adding that whenever he received them, he would forward the messages to U.S. Soccer leadership. According to the investigation, U.S. Soccer learned of the incident after Claudio “sent a series of text messages to then U.S. Soccer sporting director Earnie Stewart regarding Gio Reyna and the recent media coverage regarding Gregg Berhalter’s comments at the leadership conference.” Stewart said he spoke with both parents by phone for an hour around 7:30 p.m. Eastern and listened to their concerns.