Vera Pauw denies that as a coach of Houston Dash she has been guilty of body shaming, among other things. The former national coach of the Orange Women is accused of this in a second report about misconduct in American women’s football.
“First of all, I would like to express my disappointment with the way in which this research was conducted,” Pauw writes in an extensive statement on Friday. Twitter. “And also about the way I was treated when I tried to cooperate.”
“According to the report, I refused to cooperate, but that is not true. I accepted an invitation to a video call and asked to record this call. But they said it was not possible and they refused to answer any of my questions during the conversation.”
The 59-year-old Pauw was a trainer of Houston Dash from November 2017 to September 2018. She would have been guilty of making comments about the weight of some players.
“I wrote a letter of thirteen pages”
The current national coach of the Irish women would also have tried to influence the eating habits of the players. According to the report, she discouraged them from eating fruit because of its sugar content and called players “too fat”. One of the players is said to have suffered from an eating disorder due to the comments.
“I wrote a thirteen-page letter to share my experiences of my time with Houston,” said Pauw. “But I didn’t get an answer to that either.”
“I deny all allegations about my time with Houston Dash. The well-being of players has always been of great importance to me. To suggest that I have engaged in body shaming is an insult to my personal values and my behavior as a coach. I cannot not leave this allegation unchallenged.”
The Irish Football Association FAI supports Pauw. The FAI writes in a statement that the report was not shared with the union or with the Dutch coach himself in advance. “The FAI will continue to support Vera and her team as they prepare for the 2023 World Cup.”
In October, an independent study concluded that abuse and misconduct at the top of American women’s soccer has become “systematic.” The investigation was launched after misconduct by coach Paul Riley came out a year ago. Magazine The Athletic revealed at the time that Riley had sexually assaulted two players.
Eerder
08 dec 2022 om 14:10
Ierse voetbalbond krijgt boete omdat speelsters van Pauw IRA-lied zongen
