As first reported by The Guardian on Friday, and additionally reported by KXAN, Austin FC Academy players are under investigation by the Austin Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation over sexual abuse allegations involving interactions between players.
The club's statement, issued on Friday shortly after The Guardian's story broke, confirmed that the club "became aware of allegations of youth-on-youth misconduct occurring among a group of Academy players" in December 2025, and "after learning of these issues from concerned Academy families," took a series of steps to address the situation, including:
- Reporting these allegations to local enforcement;
- Notifying the U.S. Center for SafeSport and MLS;
- Initiating an internal investigation of the alleged youth-on-youth misconduct, in coordination with MLS;
- Providing U.S. Center for SafeSport resources to parents and families and encouraging anyone with concerns to contact law enforcement;
- Suspending all activities for the affected Academy age group while these issues were initially investigated; and
- Suspending and expelling players, in coordination with MLS and law enforcement.
The club did not elaborate on what the alleged misconduct entailed.
Per the U.S. Center for SafeSport's website, "the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017 codified the U.S. Center for SafeSport, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, as the nation’s safe sport organization. It gave us the scope and authority to resolve abuse and misconduct reports for more than 11 million individuals throughout the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement — from whom we are fully independent."
A broad array of sports organizations providing umbrella oversight for youth sports, including the U.S. Soccer Federation, are under the U.S. Center for SafeSport's purview. The organization provides education for adults and minor athletes on topics such as mandatory reporting, sexual misconduct, emotional and physical misconduct, and abuse prevention.
"We continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement throughout its ongoing investigation," the club said via its statement. "Throughout this process, Austin FC Academy and MLS took decisive actions guided by our unwavering commitment to the health, safety and well-being of our youth players and will continue to do so."
The club parted ways with Rodolfo Borrell, who oversaw sporting operations at the time of the alleged incidents, in May, though the club made clear to The Guardian that the allegations did not figure into Borrell's dismissal.
The Austin FC Academy director at the time of the alleged misconduct, Yago Aguilar Azón, who boarded during Borrell's tenure, is not listed on the Austin FC Academy website's staff page as of this writing — suggesting that he's no longer with the club. However, Aguilar Azón still claims to have that role per his LinkedIn page.
The Guardian also reported that though the investigation is still ongoing, no Austin FC Academy staff members have been disciplined.
This is a developing story.
As first reported by The Guardian on Friday, and additionally reported by KXAN, Austin FC Academy players are under investigation by the Austin Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation over sexual abuse allegations involving interactions between players.
The club's statement, issued on Friday shortly after The Guardian's story broke, confirmed that the club "became aware of allegations of youth-on-youth misconduct occurring among a group of Academy players" in December 2025, and "after learning of these issues from concerned Academy families," took a series of steps to address the situation, including:
The club did not elaborate on what the alleged misconduct entailed.
Per the U.S. Center for SafeSport's website, "the Protecting Young Victims from Sexual Abuse and Safe Sport Authorization Act of 2017 codified the U.S. Center for SafeSport, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, as the nation’s safe sport organization. It gave us the scope and authority to resolve abuse and misconduct reports for more than 11 million individuals throughout the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Movement — from whom we are fully independent."
A broad array of sports organizations providing umbrella oversight for youth sports, including the U.S. Soccer Federation, are under the U.S. Center for SafeSport's purview. The organization provides education for adults and minor athletes on topics such as mandatory reporting, sexual misconduct, emotional and physical misconduct, and abuse prevention.
"We continue to fully cooperate with law enforcement throughout its ongoing investigation," the club said via its statement. "Throughout this process, Austin FC Academy and MLS took decisive actions guided by our unwavering commitment to the health, safety and well-being of our youth players and will continue to do so."
The club parted ways with Rodolfo Borrell, who oversaw sporting operations at the time of the alleged incidents, in May, though the club made clear to The Guardian that the allegations did not figure into Borrell's dismissal.
The Austin FC Academy director at the time of the alleged misconduct, Yago Aguilar Azón, who boarded during Borrell's tenure, is not listed on the Austin FC Academy website's staff page as of this writing — suggesting that he's no longer with the club. However, Aguilar Azón still claims to have that role per his LinkedIn page.
The Guardian also reported that though the investigation is still ongoing, no Austin FC Academy staff members have been disciplined.
This is a developing story.
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