His family moved to Kinston, North Carolina, when Malik was four years old to follow his father's work as a chemical engineer for DuPont.

[8] In the summer of 2015, Traffic Sports USA president and North American Soccer League (NASL) chairman Aaron Davidson was indicted on money laundering and wire fraud charges as part of the 2015 FIFA corruption case.

U.S. Soccer counsel Lydia Wahlke also noted that Malik "has the right to hire a coach that exercises poor judgment" with regard to the reported incident of sexual misconduct.

The incident was reported to the league, which notified Malik in September and advised him to tell Riley to leave such discussions to nutritionists and phrase such comments more conscientiously.

[24] On October 6, 2021, Malik published an open letter to claim that the Courage were aware of the Thorns' investigation into Riley's alleged misconduct in 2015, but was "subsequently assured he was in good standing".

In June 2017, Daniels was called into camp for the United States national team to play in international friendlies against Sweden and Norway but did not attend, citing "personal reasons.

"[27] In a May 2018 interview with The 700 Club, which included segments filmed at Courage practices and its home stadium, Daniels revealed that she withdrew from the team for the June 2017 friendlies because she did not want to wear USSF jerseys with rainbow-colored numbers honoring LGBT pride month, saying "I just felt so convicted in my spirit that it wasn't my job to wear this jersey.

"[28][29][30] Malik defended Daniels's decision on Twitter, stating that "faith acted on in personal conviction harming no one else deserves respect just as much as creating a welcoming environment for all.

Malik initially defended the signing in a statement citing Daniels' "positive impact ... on the Courage's successful history".

[32][33] After a negative response from fans, the club posted an unsigned open letter apologizing for the signing but retained her for the 2022 season.

[39] Following the 2022 season, the Courage declined to exercise an option to extend Daniels' contract, making her an unrestricted free agent.

Malik initiated a bid in December 2016 to bring a MLS team to Raleigh, announced in July 2017 to include a 22,000-seat, $150 million stadium and $2 billion property development project called Downtown South.

[49][citation needed] In June 2020, Malik lobbied the USSF board to remove a rule prohibiting peaceful protest during the national anthem played or performed before every match.