Former Rutgers athletic director Tim Pernetti – who resigned in April amid the abuse scandal involving disgraced basketball coach Mike Rice — reportedly will take a job as the chief business officer for New York City FC, an MLS expansion club.
The move, which is to be announced next week, was first reported by Bloomberg News.
MLS announced the Yankees would buy a minority stake in New York City FC, MLS’ 20th team, which is to be run by powerhouse Manchester City of the English Premier League. MLS spokeswoman Risa Heller, the media contact for the expansion club, declined comment on Pernetti’s hiring.
New York City FC’s highest-ranking stateside executive is former U.S. National Team and Red Bulls captain Claudio Reyna, who is a graduate of St. Benedict’s Prep in Newark. The team is slated to start play in 2015, and with help from the Yankees and MLS is searching for a permanent site to build a stadium. The team is mulling sites in Queens and in The Bronx near Yankee Stadium.
The 42-year-old Pernetti, a Bergen County resident, came under fire after videotapes of Rice physically and verbally abusing his Rutgers players became public. Pernetti had suspended Rice for three games in December when he became aware of the footage, and said in his resignation letter his initial instinct was to fire Rice.
“However, Rutgers decided to follow a process involving university lawyers, human resources professionals, and outside counsel,” Pernetti wrote at the time of his resignation. “Following review of the independent investigative report, the consensus was that university policy would not justify dismissal.”
Pernetti — who had been a VP with CSTV — helped engineer Rutgers’ move to the lucrative Big Ten, huge for an athletic program that has bled money in the past. The invitation came three weeks before Rice was suspended, timing that raised eyebrows.
Pernetti was in essence forced out while new university president Robert Barchi – charged by Gov. Chris Christie with overseeing Rutgers’ acquisition of UMNDJ – kept his job. Now it appears Pernetti may have a new one.