Pauw denies vigorously any mistreatment of players during her time with Houston Dash

Macdara Ferris reports from FAI HQ

It was a defiant Vera Pauw who spoke to the football media in FAI HQ on Friday afternoon as she repudiated the allegations about her behaviour towards players made by her former club Houston Dash.

The National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) club, that Pauw managed in 2018, had issued a report this week where it noted that Pauw ‘shamed players for their weight and attempted to exert control over their eating habits’ with the Dutchwoman ‘refusing ‘to cooperate in an interview with the Joint Investigation Team.’

However Pauw in a lengthy question and answer session on Friday spoke about her methods with her players and how she gave a 13 page statement to the investigators after agreeing to be interviewed only for the arranged video call not to continue as the investigators did not want Pauw to record it.

Nonsense

The 59-year-old elaborated with the media on her methods in Houston – ones she says are the same with the Irish women’s national team. “So what I’m accused of is saying players are too big, that’s absolute nonsense. I don’t care about the body composition of players. I don’t care about fat percentage, I care about whether they can execute their tasks.

“Then they said ‘we couldn’t do our weightlifting programme’. That is right, I advised them not to do weightlifting. It’s very technical but on the big muscle groups you get strength whereas in football you need to move from the core. That brings groin injuries, hamstring injuries and, especially, ACL ruptures. I’ve always worked like that and I’ve proven with my methods that ACL ruptures are out of the scene.

“Then they said about food, if anything the only thing I have been asking is ‘get enough intake, get enough intake before the game, get enough intake after the game, get your protein shakes after the training’. I’ve never spoken about eating less, only about eating more because most of the players did not eat enough. I just care that they have enough energy in their body to execute their tasks.”

Pauw had flown in to Dublin ahead of this weekend’s RTÉ Sports Awards where no doubt Ireland’s qualification for the Women’s World Cup will be a major positive talking point. The Ireland coach was asked by extratime.com about support from the FAI. She noted that both skipper Katie McCabe (who she spoke with yesterday) and Marc Canham (FAI Director of Football) have backed her position.

FAI support

“What I am really proud of is the FAI did not jump to conclusions without talking to me and investigating a bit further whereas normal practice is if it’s out there and you’re accused, then you’re guilty,” said Pauw who was speaking in front of FAI President Gerry McAnaney who sat in on the press event.

“I stayed up until Jonathan [Hill – FAI CEO] was back from the AGM at 12.30am last night and we had a meeting. I explained the same thing that I'm doing now. There was a bit of debate, 'Should we face the press?' I said, 'Of course we'll face the press' because I'm always open and I'm always honest. We are looking into if legal actions are necessary. I have to protect myself if I can protect myself.

Investigation

“On 28 September I received a letter [from Houston]. I did not know what I was accused of. I was asked [by] a committee if I would like to participate into this inquiry. Within five minutes they had a reaction, and I said ’I want to have it very, very quickly because I want to know what’s going on and I want to know what I am accused of’. 

“We had a video call the next morning. I said, ‘just out of politeness, I’ll let you know that I am recording this’. Because there was four [people] sitting there and I was on my own. I did not know what I was accused of so I wanted to have recording and proof of what I’d be saying. They said ‘no you cannot record it’ and they ended the call.

“Then I decided to do the interview myself with the experiences I’ve had in the NWSL in those eight months. I have written everything down of what I experienced.”

She was asked how she reflects on how her time in Houston Dash went and how she handled matters? “It went very well until the moment that we could not get through to the player off which was only in the last two weeks.

“Of course I doubt myself, I doubt myself every single day, as soon as a player reacts in a way I did not expect I think, did I do it well, I am always questioning my staff if there is something I need to do different. So I question myself but I do not recall any moment of disrespectful behaviour of anyone, I have always been busy to stop disrespectful behaviour, from players, staff, people around the NWSL.

Angry

“If you have experienced power abuse over the last 30 years and you’re accused yourself of something that’s completely the opposite of the way I’ve been treating players all my life … you first ask yourself where it’s coming from.

"How is this possible that it happens to me? And then you start to become very, very angry.”

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— Extratime.com (@ExtratimeNews) December 15, 2022